''Pobednik'' ( sr-cyr, Победник, lit=The Victor) is a
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
in the Upper Town of the
Belgrade Fortress
The Belgrade Fortress ( sr-Cyrl, Београдска тврђава, Beogradska tvrđava), consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park (Large and Little Kalemegdan) on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, in a ...
, built to commemorate
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
's victory over the
Ottoman and
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
empires during the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
and the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Cast in 1913, erected in 1928, and standing at high, it is one of the most famous works of
Ivan Meštrović
Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...
. It is also one of the most visited
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
s in Belgrade and one of its most recognizable landmarks.
It is a standing bronze male figure
in the nude with a falcon in the left hand and a sword in the right (as symbols of peace and war),
[ modelled by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, set on a pedestal in the form of a ]Doric column
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
on a tall cubic base, designed by the architect Petar Bajalović. The statue looks forward across the confluence of the Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
and the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, and over the vast Pannonian plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
, towards the very distant Fruška Gora
Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the countr ...
mountain (until 1918 a domain of Austro-Hungarian empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
), it is probably the most powerful, most popular visual symbol of Belgrade.
The statue was removed from the column in October 2019 for repairs. It was returned on the pedestal after the restoration on 14 February 2020.
History
Origin
The history of the monument goes back to the period between 1913 and 1928, even though the initial idea was born in 1912, when Serbia’s success in the First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
inspired proposals for erecting a monument in Belgrade to honour the final victory over the Ottomans. In August 1913 Belgrade city council made the decision to mark this momentous event by erecting a monument to Victory. Headed by the mayor Ljubomir Davidović
Ljubomir Davidović (24 December 1863 – 19 February 1940) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as prime minister (1919–1920 and 1924) of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia).
Biography
Davidovi ...
, the council decided to rename the Terazije square and build the fountain with the monument in it. They also awarded the construction of the monument to Meštrović, without architectural competition.
Meštrović accepted the job and quickly presented his design.[ The original concept was that of a monumental fountain which was to be placed in ]Terazije
Terazije ( sr-Cyrl, Теразијe) is the central town square and the surrounding neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Stari Grad.
Today, Terazije has primarily function of the main transit square, surrounded ...
or what then was the Square of Crown Prince Alexander. The fountain was to be built of stone in the form of an oval basin, with in diameter, resting on the backs of four lions. At the centre of the basin was to be a marble column surmounted by the -tall statue of the Victor. According to the city council resolutions of 4 October 1913 Meštrović was also to produce twenty masks for the rim of the basin and fifty masks for the column, all in bronze. The column was to have 5 segments, representing 5 centuries of Ottoman occupation.[ On 19 October 1913][ the city contracted with Meštrović and he set to work on the fountain but, being an Austro-Hungarian subject, he had to leave Belgrade at the outbreak of the ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Construction
Background information about the fountain and its more detailed description were brought out by the newspaper Vreme
''Vreme'' ( Serbian for ''Time'') is a weekly news magazine based in Belgrade, Serbia.
History
Launch
In 1990, dissatisfied with the media climate in SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia's largest constituent unit, a group of liberal Serbian intellectuals, ...
: ''...a large basin (shell) the outer side of which would be decorated with a relief depicting warriors on galloping horses. Affixed along the rim of the shell would be lion’s heads (from the present-day jet fountain) spouting water into the shell. ..The column would be girdled with spaced hoops to which Turkish head masks would be affixed, and each would spout a jet of water into the basin below...''
In order to finish the work as quickly possible, Meštrović moved his studio to Belgrade. He worked in the semi-basement of the Elementary School King Petar I
Elementary School King Petar I ( sr, Основна школа "Краљ Петар Први") is an elementary school in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The original school was founded in 1718 and is the oldest surviving cultural and education ...
by the Cathedral Church
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral ...
, actually in the school's gym.[ Due to the size of the statue, the school's roof was partially removed.] Within a short time he completed the figure of the Victor and lion’s heads. Having sent them to Bohemia for casting, he began to work on the large reliefs of lancers. Sketches for the large lion figures were also done.
Meštrović’s statue of the Victor was done in 1913,[ immediately after and as a continuation, in concept and style, of the cycle of sculptures intended for his large-scale project for a shrine commemorating the ]Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...
(''Vidovdanski hram''), which includes representative sculptures such as Srdja Zlopogledja, Miloš Obilić and Marko Kraljević. Conceived as a colossal athletic male nude set up on a tall column, the monument symbolically represents the iconic figure of victory. In iconographic terms, the personification of the triumph of a victorious nation can be traced back to classical antiquity and its mythic hero Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
.[
Then the First World War broke out. The Austrian ultimatum forced Meštrović to leave Belgrade and almost all finishing works had to be ceased. During the occupation by Austrian, German and Hungarian troops, all was destroyed except for the statue of the Victor and lion masks, which were away in Bohemia for casting.][ The exact appearance of the fountain is known from the photographs of Meštrović’s original drawings taken in his ]Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
studio by the sculptor Veselko Zorić.
The project of erecting the fountain in Terazije was revived after the First World War, but the available funds could only cover the casting costs for the Victor and lion masks. The statue arrived in Belgrade in the late July 1923 and was stored in a storehouse for plumbing pipes in Senjak
Senjak ( sr-cyrl, Сењак, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. Located in Savski Venac, one of the three municipalities that constitute the very center of the city, it is an affluent neighborhood containing emba ...
. Yet, in 1923 the city council and Meštrović reached an agreement that he should do the monument in Terazije, but the sculpture remained in the storehouse for the next 4 years.[
]
Scandal
However, the beginning of preparation works for the monument's foundation in May 1927 caused a public controversy. The public challenged the erection of the monument on moral and artistic grounds. Instigated by the author and jurist Petar Odavić, the campaign against the monument began. Odavić published an article in the ''Vreme'' magazine, attacking the sculpture claiming it insults the moral of chaste Belgrade ladies, so as the memory on Serbian soldiers which it was to represent, by not having "symbols of the Serbian soldiers", like the ''šajkača
The ''šajkača'' ( sr-Cyrl, шајкача, ) is the Serbian national hat or cap. Traditionally worn by men in the Serbian countryside, it is named after Serb river troops known as '' šajkaši'', who protected the Austrian Empire against the O ...
'' hat or the ''opanak
Opanci are traditional peasant shoes worn in Southeastern Europe (specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and also Romania and Albania). The attributes of the opanci (name in plural) are a const ...
'' footwear, and that it doesn't represent a Serbian hero but rather some ancient one. Still, the design was endorsed by numerous members of Serbian academia, like Bogdan Popović
Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...
, Stevan Hristić
Stevan Hristić ( sr-cyr, Стеван Христић; 19 June 1885 – 21 August 1958) was Serbian composer, conductor, pedagogue, and music writer. A prominent representative of the late romanticist style in Serbian music of the first half o ...
, Branislav Petronijević
Branislav "Brana" Petronijević (sometimes styled as Petronievics) (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав "Брана" Петронијевић; 6 April 1875 – 4 March 1954) was a Serbian philosopher and paleontologist.
His major work is the two- ...
, Ksenija Atanasijević
Ksenija Atanasijević (Xenia Atanassievich) (1894–1981) was the first recognised major female Serbian philosopher, and the first female professors of Belgrade University, where she graduated. She wrote about Giordano Bruno, ancient Greek phi ...
, Zora Petrović
Zora Petrović ( Dobrica, May 17, 1894 – Belgrade, May 25, 1962) was a Serbian painter. Her notable works can be seen in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, and in Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection in Novi Sad.
Biography
She attend ...
, Beta Vukanović
Beta Vukanović (18 April 1872 – 31 October 1972), also known as Babette Bachmayer, was a Serbian painter and centenarian.
Biography
Born in Bamberg, Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (adminis ...
or Stanislav Krakov
Stanislav Krakov ( sr-Cyrl, Станислав Краков; 1895–1968) was a Serbian officer, Chetnik guerrilla, journalist, writer and film director. He participated in the Balkan Wars and First World War. During the Second World War, he supp ...
, but also by certain women organizations and parts of the clergy.[ Division among public, elite and church soon gained political connotation. There were various, jokingly suggestions, like the proposition for the super-high pedestal so that its nudity won't be visible from the ground or that, since it is already nude, it may be placed in a swimming pool.][
Meštrović also had his say: ''Belgrade City Council asked my consent to set up the “Victor” in Terazije temporarily. But aware that our “temporarily” tends to last too long, I have made an agreement with the Belgrade architect Bajalović for a more solid pedestal for the statue. The Council, so I’ve heard, set to work. And then stopped. What have I to say? If they intend to set up the statue in Terazije, let them set it up. If they have found a better place, let them set it up there. After all, it may as well stay where it has been for all this time – in a shed. As far as I am concerned, I’d like it best to have the opportunity to do the whole Fountain the way it was originally conceived.''
Especially vocal against it were the members of several female organizations. They considered the placing of a figure of a nude man in the center of the city is "rude" and that it will damage the moral of the girls.][ After much controversy, debate and criticism, the city council decided not to set up the monument in Terazije, but to find a location outside the city. As soon as ]Kosta Kumanudi
Konstantin Kosta Kumanudi ( sr, Константин Коста Кумануди) (22 November 1874 – 27 November 1962) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and later with the ''Yugoslav Radical Peas ...
took over as a mayor of Belgrade
The Mayor of Belgrade ( sr, Градоначелник Београда / ''Gradonačelnik Beograda'') is the head of the City of Belgrade (the capital and largest city of Serbia). The Mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive ...
in 1926, he pushed to project to finally get it done. Belgrade municipality officially purchased the monument. Also, by this time the city decided to scrap the fountain and the lion heads at the monument's base due to the money reasons. The Arts Commission, formed by the city, decided in September 1927 to relocate the monument and place it "on the ridge of the Belgrade Town, at the mouth of the Sava and the Danube". As Kumanudi had other duties in the state government, this decision was confirmed by his deputy Kosta Jovanović, and Kumanudi was neither aware or notified about it at the time.[ Kumanudi then informed Meštrović that the preparatory work on erecting the monument had been ceased contrary to his instructions. This decision of the city council coincided with the completion of the Sava Avenue and the Great Stairway in ]Kalemegdan Park
The Kalemegdan Park ( sr, / ), or simply Kalemegdan ( sr-Cyrl, Калемегдан) is the largest park and the most important historical monument in Belgrade. It is located on a cliff, at the junction of the River Sava and the Danube.
Kal ...
as well as with the celebration of the anniversary of the Salonika front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
breakthrough. It was in commemoration of that event's 10th anniversary that on 7 October 1928[ the freshly refurbished part of the Sava Avenue was inaugurated and the Victor unveiled.][
]
Recent history
Measurements from 1989 showed that the "Victor" is partially standing on the embankment and partially on the medieval rampart, which is why it is tilting. The technical documentation for the pedestal is lost so the Institute for the protection of the cultural monuments has done its own research. It showed that the core of the pedestal is made of concrete while from the outside it has been slab-sided with the stone. The monument was partially repaired in the 1989–1991 period.[ Within this project, in 1990 it was cleaned from the ]graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
and dirt.[
In 1996, the Institute tried to improve the static of the monument and to stop further tilting, but eventually unsuccessfully. The foundations were strengthened and the piles were placed to prevent the tilting. Still, the monument hasn't been fully straightened and remained in partially tilted position, as the piles were pushed into the soft section of the rampart and the ]subsidence
Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...
of the terrain continued. Researches in 2007–2009 showed that it was tilted .[
In 2015, when the broken plates were being removed and replaced at the foothill of the statue, it was discovered that the earth beneath is sagging. The measurements were conducted and an underground room, dug in the 1950s, was discovered beneath the plateau. That delayed the works on the plateau itself, which were finished in September 2016: the new marble plates were placed, so as the decorative lights, while the problem of draining the atmospheric waters was solved, but the monument itself (both the pedestal and the sculpture) were not renovated.][ That same year the Belgrade University Civil Engineering Faculty concluded that the "tilting is a process which continues and shows no signs of slowing down or stopping".][
In September 2017, it was reported that there is a crack on the monument. The crack starts from beneath the Victor's left foot, goes over the ]capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
and down the Doric column. It is some long and quite visible. The cracks on the plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
, or the bronze base of the sculpture were the deepest, wide. The damage of the base, both to the sculpture and the pedestal, is such, that the sculpture stands on the inner, corroded iron skeleton and not on its bronze body. The reporters remarked that it looks like the "Victor stomped with his left foot, creating the crack". The Institute stated that the crack is there for a long time and that it is not affecting the stability or the static of the monument, despite the tilt. The crack was growing as the water was entering into it, getting frozen and expanding during the winters, causing further corrosion. The stone on the statue's round bas on top of the pedestal crumbled almost completely, while the steel parts rusted. They announced the full reconstruction and static overhaul for 2019, for which the special technologies are required. The bidding for the project was announced in October 2018. The bronze statue itself, which is damaged by the various ammunitions in time, will be removed from the column, repaired and returned to its place. The column and the pedestal will be repaired ''in situ
''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
'' and a temporary workshop will be set at the plateau on which the monument is built, where the statue will be repaired, too.[
On 9 May 2018 on the occasion of Europe Day, the Victor was illuminated for the first time with the colours of EU – blue and yellow (stars) – thanks to the EU Delegation in Serbia.
]
2019-2020 reconstruction
On 28 August 2019 preparatory works on the repair began. The base construction will be fixed first, in order to prevent micro movements and to straighten up the monument. The slabs and plates will be removed so that new piles and beams could be placed below. On 10 October 2019 the statue itself was removed and transported to Smederevo
Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
According to ...
, where sculptor Zoran Kuzmanović will repair it. For the first time since it was posted in 1928, the statue was physically removed from its pedestal. When it was lowered to the ground, it was shown that the statue remained attached to the pedestal only by one screw and the lightning rod
A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducte ...
wire, while the cables which connected the statue to the base from the inside completely, all four of them, rotted and disappeared. It was also established that the sculpture was lighter than previously thought: it was estimated to be 1.5 to 1.7 tons, but it turned out it has only 1 ton. The sculpture was exhibited for a while at Tsarigrad Road
The Tsarigrad Road ( bg, Цариградски път, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Carigradski drum, separator=" / ", Цариградски друм, from Tsarigrad “City of the Tsar”, an old Slavic name of Istanbul), also called the Road to Istanbul, ...
, path in the Kalemegdan Park and former starting point of the road which connected Belgrade to Constantinople.
Kuzmanović also headed the repairs of another Fortress landmark, the Monument of Gratitude to France, in 2018. The sculpture has never been repaired since the unveiling. In time it turned black, with only patches of preserved green copper patina
Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produced b ...
. The inner construction of the statue and its connection to the pedestal will also be replaced as, at the time, they were made of iron which corroded in time. The top of the pedestal, on which the sculpture stands, will be completely replaced. Deadline is set for February 2020.[
The stone slabs used originally were from Tašmajdan quarry, which has been closed a long time ago. Also, the rock below the monument, which was partially used during the construction, can't be used as it protected as the natural monument today, as it originates from the period when the area of Belgrade was submerged under the ]Pannonian Sea
The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...
. Instead, stone from Fruška Gora
Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the countr ...
will be used.
After transportation to Smederevo, it turned out that the statue is even in the worse condition than previously estimated, including terrible statics and loosened sword and eagle. A construction made of stainless steel was added inside the sculpture, to properly connect it to the pedestal. Also, it was discovered that part of the tombstone was embedded into the base. Tombstone probably originated from the Old Cemetery, the 19th cemetery in Tašmajdan. The cemetery was relocated by 1927 to the Belgrade New Cemetery
The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christian ...
and the remaining tombstones were reused for various construction works around the city. The stone will be preserved and exhibited. Though this was the usual practice in the Balkans in general (the old, reused materials are called ''spolije''), art historians are surprised that a tombstone was used as the pedestal.[
Due to the high concentration of ]sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
in Belgrade atmosphere, the patina is mostly made of copper sulfate. However, it developed unevenly, so some parts of the sculpture are light green while some are black. It will be cleaned as much as possible (including dry ice) as patina is eating out the copper core. To slow down the process, the Pobednik will be treated with special chemicals.[ The oxides were removed using the technique of the ]dry ice
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimates directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily a ...
abrasive blasting
Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...
at the temperature of . It was discovered that the nose was partially covered with bronze tin patch, presumably because of the faulty mold. The patch separated in time which allowed for the water to enter inside the sculpture which explains why everything rusted and decayed inside. Kuzmanović cast a proper bronze section of the nose and closed it. It was also found that the steel connection between the handle and the blade of the sword completely corroded. The screw which also supported it was completely rotten and disappeared. It was a pure luck that the blade didn't fell down from the pedestal. Over 30 bullet and shrapnel holes were found on the statue. One cannonball
A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...
was discovered in one of its legs.[
To prevent further tilting of the column and to make static of the foundation firmer, eight ]rebar
Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...
bars were drilled into the ground. Each has a diameter of and an average length of . Their purpose is not to straighten the column, only to make it more stable, so it will remain tilted. The column was cleaned from soot
Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...
and the cracks in it, some up to deep, were filled.[ The sculpture had a total of almost 100 dents and in the end weighted a half of ton more than before the restoration.
The statue was returned on the column on 14 February 2020. Works on the column itself and on the surrounding plateau continued until the complete reconstruction was finished on 5 March 2020.
]
Assessment
Though monument's position and design may be interpreted in a way that he is "guarding" the city, and its present function as a major symbol of Belgrade, art historians tend to believe that, due to the scandals following its construction, the monument is placed on present location, on such a high pedestal and turned away from the city in order "not to be seen better, but to be seen less".[
After the creation of a new state and a new spiritual climate in the aftermath of the First World War, the concept of the Herald of Victory (which was the original name of the statue)][ as the crowning motif of the fountain as a monument to freedom and liberation from the centuries-long Ottoman occupation lost its originally intended sense and its name came to reflect its new dedication to the Salonika front breakthrough and the victory of the Serbian army in the First World War.
The simple design of the pedestal and its well-proportioned height made it possible to take in the monument as a whole rather than in detail, which resulted in the desired monumentality and the perception of the monument as a sign or a symbol. Over time the Victor has become one of the most salient symbols of Belgrade. Along with the Monument of Gratitude to France, it belongs to the few public monuments erected between the two world wars in Belgrade which pursued contemporary stylistic trends.
The Victor Monument was designated as a cultural heritage property in 1992.][Službeni list grada Beograda, no. 26/92]
Gallery
See also
*Tourism in Serbia
Tourism in Serbia is officially recognized as a primary area for economic and social growth. The hotel and catering sector accounted for approximately 2.2% of GDP in 2015. Tourism in Serbia employs some 75,000 people, about 3% of the country's wo ...
* Protected Monuments of Culture (Serbia)
Sources
* Duško Kečkemet, Život Ivana Meštrovića 1883.–1962.–2002 (Zagreb 2009).
* Danijela Vanušić, “Podizanje spomenika Pobedi na Terazijama” Nasledje IX (Belgrade 2008), 193–210.
* Radina Vučetić-Mladenović, “Pobednik: polemike uoči postavljanja Meštrovićevog spomenika”, Godišnjak za društvenu istoriju VI: 2 (1999), 110–123.
* CHPIB Documentation
References
External links
{{Belgrade Architecture
Balkan Wars
Buildings and structures in Belgrade
Monuments and memorials in Serbia
Protected Monuments of Culture
Serbia in World War I
Serbian military monuments and memorials
Sculptures by Ivan Meštrović
Tourist attractions in Serbia