| After having built the residence for his wife and children in the town of Belgrade, Knez Miloš Obrenović raised this lodging for himself in Topčider, in 1831-1834. The building was constructed by the builders Janja Mihailović and Nikola Đorđević, and works were conducted by Hadži-Nikola Živković, the supervisor and builder of almost all construction enterprises of Knez Miloš. The rich interior decoration of ceilings, walls and niches, is partially preserved until today. During the time of his first rule, Miloš has stayed here from time to time only, while during his second rule he spent all of his time here (two years) and eventually died here on September 14, 1860. For some time there were the Museums of Knez Miloš and Mihailo Obrenović, and later the Museum of Forestry and Hunting, established in 1929.
At the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the First Serbian Insurrection (1954), the Museum of the First Serbian Insurrection was opened in the Konak, and it was thematically dedicated to the whole period of Serbian liberation wars against the Turks (from 1804 until the second hatišerif (charter) of 1839). The Museum's exhibits represented the starting point for making of the Historical Museum of Serbia in 1963. In front of this building grows one of the oldest and most beautiful plane-trees in Europe, protected by law as a natural rarity (it is more than 160 years old). |