The Steam Bath of Brothers Krsmanović is the former

public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, the capital of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Built from 1901 to the 1920s around the former

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

from the 18th century, it was the last operational public bath in Belgrade, until it was closed in 2004. In 2001 the edifice was declared a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...

. The first public swimming pool in Belgrade was opened in the venue in 1904.

Location

The bath is located at 45 ''Cara Dušana street''. It is situated in the Stari Grad municipality's neighborhood of

Dorćol Dorćol ( sr-Cyrl, Дорћол; ) is an affluent urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. Located along the right bank of the Danube, Dorćol is the oldest surviving neighbo ...

History

Origin

The predecessor of the modern bath was a former ''hamam'', or the Turkish bath. Called "Small Hamam", it was recorded in the Turkish plan from 1863, but it probably originated from the 18th century.

20th century

The present complex of the Steam Bath of Brothers Krsmanović began to develop in 1901 around the former hamam and it was finished by the 1920s. The venue was later renamed the "Public hot bath Dunav". In 1904, the first public swimming pool in the city was opened in the bath. Built on the spring of warm water, it was advertised at the time as the "modern hamam". The pool was and had a

diving platform A diving platform or diving tower is a type of structure used for competitive diving. It consists of a vertical rigid "tower" with one or more horizontal platforms extending out over a deep pool of water. In platform diving, the diver jumps from ...

and other attraction of the day. Original owner of the bath was artisan Petar J. Petrović (1854-1921), who worked as the "king's and court's artistic fitter". His father was Josef Schauengel, who migrated to Serbia, became military medic with the rank of major and changed his name to Jovan Petrović. The Petrović family later sold the venue to the brothers Krsmanović. After World War II, the object became colloquially known as the "People's bath".

21st century

In 2004 the facility was closed due to the safety concerns as the standards for the safe public use, both for the building and the instalastions, were not reached. Also, the profitability was low, which was one of the reasons that all other bathhouses were closed in Belgrade. Users of the bath were of low economic stature in general: people who had no bathrooms in their houses, poor and homeless people, students, pensioners, seasonal workers, sellers on the green markets who slept in trucks or

market stall A market stall or a booth is a structure used by merchants to display and house their merchandise in a street market, fairs and convention (meeting), conventions. Some commercial marketplaces, including market squares or flea markets, may permit m ...

s, etc. The house was declared a cultural monument in 2001. After closing, the venue was occasionally loaned by the city government, for the music videos productions, private parties, exhibitions and as the movie sets, but by 2017 the facility deteriorated a lot. In 2008, city government decided to do something with the facility and the

architectural design competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

for the best solution was set. Three projects were chosen, but nothing has done. In 2012, the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

of the Palilula municipality started an initiative to reopen the bath, as it was estimated that there are 3,000-5,000 homeless people in Belgrade who can't have a bath anywhere else. The Ministry of Culture later announced an idea of turning the bath into the international cultural center so the stuff members from the embassies of Austria, France, Turkey and Iran visited the venue. The idea was revived by Gunnar B. Kvaran, director of the

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art is a privately owned contemporary art gallery in Oslo in Norway. It was founded and opened to the public in 1993. The collection's main focus is the American appropriation artists from the 1980s, but it i ...

, who visited the bath in July 2017. In October 2017, during the visit of the high state delegation from Ankara, Serbian and Turkish governments signed a memorandum on restoration of the object, but the details were not disclosed. Two governments signed another protocol in December 2018. According to this, part of the bath will retain its original purpose. Another part will be transformed into the classrooms, halls, library, gallery and administrative offices. Part of the building will be used by the Turkish Yunus Emre Institute, but again, no dates were given.

Architecture

The architect of the complex is unknown. The house was designed in the style of

Academism Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins ...

. It is projected as the ground-floor building with an emphasized side

avant-corps An ''avant-corps'' ( or , plural , , ), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than other parts of the building.Curl, James Stev ...

, which ends with a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

in the zone of the

roof A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera ...

. In the central part of the symmetrical

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

lies a portal that ends with a semicircular shape, surmounted by a triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. Shallow

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

with decoratively processed

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s separate

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...

s topped by triangular tympanums. The glass on the double door at the entrance is decorated with

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

s. In general, the ornamentation of the object is quite simple and modest. On the inside, a circular hamam pool and a smaller polygonal pool with cold water are located in the center. The bases of the facility with the circular pool, as well as the canals below the pool, are the remains of the former Turkish "Little Hamam". The chimney is large and made of cricks, in the factory-style chimneys.

References

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External links

Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments – Belgrade

Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments – Belgrade: Immovable cultural property base

List of monuments
Buildings and structures in Belgrade Protected Monuments of Culture