Studentski trg

 

It covers the space between Vase Čarapića and Uzun-Mirkova streets, around the Univerzitetski Park.

This is the oldest of Belgrade's squares. In Turkish times, it included the Turkish cemetery, which remained here right up to the 1860s. In 1824, the Serbian authorities set up a market-place in one part of what is now the University Park, and this later became the Great Market. During the planning of Belgrade in the years after 1869, the shape of Student Square was made more regular. One half was still the Great Market while the other was converted into a park. Then and later, the most beautiful feature of the square was Captain Miša's Building, which had been erected in 1863.

After the removal of the market in 1927, the park was extended to cover the whole space. As early as 1897 the monument to Josif Pančić was erected here, and in 1930 the monument to Dositej Obradović was moved here from the entrance to Kalemegdan. There also used to be a drinking-fountain, built in honour of Aleksandar Obrenović.

Two well known Belgrade hotels stood on Studentski Trg before World War I: the "Macedonia", on the corner of Vase Čarapića Street and the square, and the "Imperial", next to Captain Miša's Building. At the Uzun-Mirkova Street corner of the square, there used to be a famous restaurant, the "Union", demolished in 1935.