New Palace (Belgrade)

The Novi Dvor (Serbian Cyrillic: Нови двор, lit. 'New Palace') is the seat of the president of Serbia. It was a royal residence of the Karađorđević dynasty of Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934. The palace is located on Andrićev Venac in Belgrade, opposite Stari Dvor (Belgrade City Hall).

Plans for a new royal residence emerged after the assassination of King Alexander I in 1903 and the demolition of the Stari Konak a year later. The new king Peter I resided at the Stari Dvor, which had never been used as a residence but as a venue for state ceremonies and events. Since Stari Dvor was unsuitable for the royal family's permanent living, it seemed natural to think of constructing a new one.

The construction of the new royal palace for Crown Prince Alexander, based on a design by Stojan Titelbah, a prominent Serbian architect of the early 20th century, was announced in 1911. It was to be built at the corner of the Kralja Milana and Dobrinjska (today Andrićev Venac) streets. Subsequently, Dvor sa Kulama was demolished, when the leveling of the lot began. The cornerstone was ceremonially laid on 14 September 1911, and consecrated by the Serbian metropolitan Dimitrije.

Titelbah personally supervised the construction, and Novi Dvor is the only known work he did as an architect of the Ministry of Construction. The facade was erected in 1912, and the communal works were done by 1913. By 1914, the construction works were finished, and the wood joinery installation began on the eve of World War I. The building suffered substantial damage during the war, especially during the 1915 Austro-Hungarian bombing. Occupying Austro-Hungarian army used the building to host soldiers and the woodworks was completely destroyed as it was used for heating. In 1918, during the withdrawal of the occupying army, the building was further damaged.

After the war, a thorough rebuilding was needed, not only architectural, but also of waterworks, plumbing, wirings, heating, etc. Reconstruction was conducted under the supervision of a special commission which also oversaw the renovation of Stari Dvor. Among the members of the commission, which was in charge of the entire work on the new royal residence, were the painter Uroš Predić and the architects Petar Popović and Momir Korunović. Reconstruction began in 1919 and the major works were finished in 1921.

Text adapted from “Novi Dvor” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

New Palace (Belgrade) ranks #1,891 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #9 of the 34 mapped in Serbia. Founded 1922 — one of 169 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,542 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Belgrade, 1 km away. See how Serbia compares in the castle statistics.

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