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Terazije, Beograd, Srbija, 2018 [open in full screen]  

 
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Terazije is Beograd's designated center. When street numbers are assigned to the streets of Beograd, numeration begins from the part of the street closest to Terazije. Terazije literally means scales, more commonly known as "water balances" or "su terazisi" in Turkish. Water Balances were tower-like structures maintaining water pressure when conveying water to neighbourhoods at a high-level. Varying from 3 to 10 m in height, they had a cistern at the summit from which the water flowed into distribution pipes.

The water tower was removed in 1860 and replaced by the drinking fountain [česma] . In 1911, the "česma" was moved away from the city to Topčider.

  Terazije started to take shape as an urban feature in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1840s, Prince Miloš Obrenović ordered Serbian craftsmen, especially blacksmiths and coppersmiths, to move out of the old town "within walls", where they had been mixed with the Turkish inhabitants, and build their houses and shops on the place of the present square.

Modern appearance of Terazije is mostly set after 1947. City's main urbanist, Nikola Dobrović, in order to adapt square for the May 1st military parade, demolished almost everything on the ground level. Terazije became a "lifeless" ground for the parade and, in the future, for the automobile traffic.

Square was again remodelled in 1976 when the old "Terazijska česma" was returned back to the square and placed at its present location.

  Drinking fountain [česma] is standing in front of the most prominent building, Hotel Moskva, built in 1906, still preserving the original shape with its famous façade made of ceramic tiles. My photo bellow right was made in 1980, on a revitalized square when Beograd was still open cosmopolitan metropolis.

The other prominent building, visually closing Terazije square, is Palace Albania, built in 1937, the first high rise in Beograd and the highest building in the Balkans before World War II.

Street, cutting this place in half is leaving for pedestrians wide and pleasant sidewalks. Street is not extremely busy since the opening of Terazije tunnel that diverted most of the traffic away. We have another visit from 2003 to Terazije in our collection.

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Last time updated on September 22, 2023