"Secret of New Belgrade" - prodigious information from the history of Serbian capital city

(Photo: Lična arhiva)

Did you know that the third river used to flow through Belgrade? Do you know why the Railway bridge was torn down four times or where was the first TV show broadcast in the capital city? Did you know that Škoda build a tower on Old Fairgrounds for the visitors to jump from with open parachute?

The answers to these questions are given in Zoran Nikolić's new book "Secret of New Belgrade", which he wrote together with Mirko Radonjić. The book about less known history of New Belgrade will be released on May 20, the day when Milan Stojadinović, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, opened the works on preparation of New Belgrade for building projects in 1938.

- The citizens of Belgrade now think that the territory of New Belgrade used to be covered by sand. We have very strange, dark holes in our history, which are the results of our ignorance of history. It is interesting that much bigger number of such holes exist in the near past, which is caused by the clash of different ideologies. This work opens the story for the citizens of New Belgrade, and Belgrade in general, because this is a book on the city expansion that is completely unexpected and incredible – Zoran Nikolić, the author of "Secret of New Belgrade", explains for eKapija.

Zoran Nikolić points out that Belgrade should be viewed from a different perspective and that we should not only take a quick glance at the places we pass by.

He and Vidoje Golubović revealed the secrets of Belgrade's underground in book "Belgrade underneath Belgrade", which has had six editions so far, and he also revealed the secrets of Belgrade's buildings in his book "Masonic Symbols in Belgrade", of which third and revised edition is being prepared by the author.

"Belgrade underneath Belgrade" reveals the "signatures" left by rulers and conquerors underneath the capital city by having underground facilities, dungeons, bunkers and shelters built, as well as secret passages, most of which are still hidden beneath the city's surface.

- Book "Belgrade underneath Belgrade" drew great attention when we published it. The research of the city's underground was a big challenge to us. We came to the idea of writing that book when we heard there was a house in Cara Dušana Street, the oldest house in Belgrade, with a strange underground path beneath it. There used to be some path, but it has been walled off because the foundations of current buildings were dug deeper, so that they have cut the tunnel somewhere - says Nikolić.

Nikolić says that older citizens of Belgrade sent them to some other interesting locations.

- That is how we found out about Tašmajdan, which is an incredible underground space at few thousand square meters with the caves from the Roman, Turkish and Austrian time. We researched the routes of Roman aqueducts, Austrian dungeons in Zemun, underground passages in Karađorđeva Street, Senjak, subterranean waters underneath the city. This book is constantly growing - says the author.

All passages, secret shelters and caves mentioned in the book could be used in different ways, primarily as tourist attractions, but the city of Belgrade is not ready yet to cope with the secrets of old Belgrade's underground.

The masonic symbols of Belgrade show how important Belgrade has been on the map of European Freemasons over the past few centuries and how much significant masonic signatures has been left on the buildings in the capital city.

- The secrets of the city's underground were followed by the secrets of the city's overground. We are talking about masonic symbols, a mystic and unusual order. It is quite confusing what they did with the facades - from the pyramids on the Academy of Science, the Neznani Junak monument (Unknown Hero) by Meštrović who used to be a mason, the money bill characters such as Đorđe Weifert, to the symbols at cemeteries and Branislav Nušić who was buried under a pyramid.

Nikolić points out that he is not a mason although he was invited to join that "society". He wants to stay a consistent researcher of Belgrade's secrets.

- When you are doing researches like these, you realize that all you have learned from the history are only pebbles alongside the road, while the road has not even been touched.

Nikolić says that, after these two books, the third book - "Secret of New Belgrade" - came as a logical path. The authors crossed the bridges and came to the documents on the basis of which they realized that the area of New Belgrade is "strangely unexplored".