| Situated between Terazije, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra and Dečanska Street, it is the youngest Belgrade square. It was built in 1953, when a fountain was placed.
In the first half of the XIX century, this area was an empty field bisected by the road to Constantinople which was at this point in the process of developing into a street. The first name of this street was Golden Cannon Lane, after a restaurant of the same name, and this was later changed to Markova Street. Not far from the site of the present National Assembly, at the beginning of Vlajkovićeva Street, stood the largest of the Turkish mosques, the Batal Mosque, which was pulled down in 1869.
After World War I, the buildings in this area were mainly single and double-storied ones. One of these housed the Belgrade district court (better known as the "Peasant Court"), later the location of a notorious Gestapo prison during the German occupation. Between two world wars the following buildings were constructed: the National Assembly (1936), Agrarian Bank (after the war the seat of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia), then the building of the "Vreme" newspaper (today the "Borba"), the "Beograd" cinema and others.
The urban and architectural development of the square started after World War II, when old buildings were demolished, the tram terminus was moved, new fountain was built, the railings in front of the former palace gardens and the National Assembly were removed and several new buildings erected including the Trade Union Hall, buildings of the City Administration and Investment Bank. This square used to bear the name "Marx and Engels Square" for a long time.
Monument to Nikola Pašić was erected at this square in 1998. |