Bezistan, Belgrade

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Bezistan Безистан
roofed square and passage
Sculpture "Girl with the seashell", placed in 1959
Etymology: bezistan, roofed market
Bezistan Location within Belgrade
Coordinates: 44°48′48″N 20°27′44″E / 44.813224°N 20.462090°E / 44.813224; 20.462090Coordinates: 44°48′48″N 20°27′44″E / 44.813224°N 20.462090°E / 44.813224; 20.462090
Country	Serbia
Region	Belgrade
Municipality	Stari Grad
Area
• Total	1.37 ha (3.39 acres)

Bezistan (Serbian Cyrillic: Безистан) is a roofed, indoor passage with a small square and the surrounding shopping area. It connects the squares of Terazije and Nikola Pašić in downtown Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.^[1] Originally, it was the location of Hotel "Pariz", which was built in 1870, and demolished in 1948 during the reconstruction of Terazije. Nicknamed by architects as the "belly button of Belgrade", the passage has been placed under preliminary protection as a potential cultural monument.^[2] It is part of the wider protected Spatial Cultural-Historical Unit of Stari Grad.^[3][4]

Location[]

Bezistan belongs to the municipality of Stari Grad. On one side, it starts at the central section of Terazije, between the southern wall of the Hotel Kasina, and the building at 27 Terazije, which hosts the McDonald's restaurant. On the other side, it exits at the northern corner of the Nikola Pašić Square, in the square's pedestrian area. This entry/exit is constructed through the massive building of Dom Sindikata, between its two wings.^[5][6]

History[]

Hotel Pariz[]

The original tavern on the location, founded in the 1830s, was "Ćosina Mehana", owned by Anđelko Aleksić Ćosa. He decided to enhance its service and began construction of the new building in 1868, planning to name it "Gostionica kod Pariza" ("Inn chez Paris"). Hotel "Pariz" was ceremonially opened in 1870, as one in a row of new hotels in Terazije, located between the "Kasina" and "Takovo" hotels. It soon became a popular gathering place for the upper classes and foreigners. The most popular was the hotel's kafana. It was spacious, with heavily shaded, large and sprawling inner yard, which was bordered on two sides by the hotel's wings. The building wasn't massive like the others in Terazije. The facade was only 25 metres (82 ft) wide, and the hotel had 30 rooms, but they were of the highest category, so the tag "Grand Hotel Pariz" ("Grand Hotel Paris") was used for advertising.^[7]

The hotel became a major meeting place of the senior members of the People's Radical Party. Some of the foreign guests who spent some time in the hotel were general Mikhail Chernyayev and painter Vlaho Bukovac. The posh venue was known for cleanliness, cuisine, parties and receptions. In 1906, the hotel's owner Svetozar Botorić had a movie projector installed in the hotel's hall, which became Belgrade's first permanent cinema, "Grand". Botorić, one of the cinema pioneers in Serbia, was also a movie producer. The first Serbian feature film, The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe, was partially filmed in the venue, and later shown in it.^[7] The first Serbian comedy theatre "Orfeum" was also located in the hotel.^[8] Botorić died in Austro-Hungarian internment during World War I.^[7]

After the war, Botorić's widow sold the venue to the Funds Administration, but the ownership changed several times in this period. In the 1930s, the building was expanded with another cinema hall. As Belgrade's downtown, Terazije was heavily bombed during World War II. Two major destructions occurred during the German bombing of Belgrade in April 1941, and Allied Easter bombing in April 1944. The hotel itself was badly damaged. Its remains were completely demolished during the massive reconstruction of Terazije in 1948.^[7][9]

Passage[]

The idea of connecting Terazije and the still not properly formed square in front of the National Assembly, happened during the Interbellum.^[7] Construction of the Marx and Engels Square (modern Nikola Pašić Square) lasted from 1947 to 1957.^[10][11] Trees from the hotel's former inner yard were cut, and Bezistan was designed by Vladeta Maksimović in 1953 in its location. It was envisioned as a small, roofed square, which would serve for the artisan and merchant shops, but also as a cultural and touristic center.^[7][12]

Along the edges of the area, rows of small shops were placed, including the "miniature" "Soko Štark's" confectionery store.^[7] The covered square became a quiet corner in very downtown, with mini gardens and coffee shops, and a popular destination of many Belgraders. In 1959 a round plateau with the fountain and a bronze sculpture in its center, called “Girl with the seashell”, sculptured by  [sr], was built. A webbed roof, shaped like a semi-opened dome, made of concrete and designed by Maksimović, was constructed to cover the plateau and the fountain. Because of that feature, and the small shops located in it, the area was named "Bezistan", though it never functioned as the bezistan in the true, oriental sense of the term.^[3][13]

In time, small, prefabricated kiosks were added, as souvenir and bric-à-brac shops. Instead of the former cinema "Grand", cinema "Kozara" was opened. It became the major feature within Bezistan. It was one of the most popular cinemas in Belgrade, as it was reserved for the movie premieres. In front of the cinema, for decades there were illegal snack sellers (pumpkin and sunflower seeds, popcorn, sweets) and scalpers. The first photo booth in Belgrade was placed in Bezistan.^[14]

A popular disco club "Bezistan" was opened in the 1980s. It was located in the basement of the venue which was adapted into the McDonald's restaurant by the decade's end. It was different from other discos of the era, as the only "dancing club" in the city. When the popularity of the Italo disco reached Belgrade, the club organized dance competitions for participants from Yugoslavia. Band Zana was promoted for the first time there, while band Aska practiced its choreography for their performance at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest. The venue was closed in 1989.^[15]

With the economic collapse in the 1990s, many shops were closed. The passage was known for all sorts of button badges available in its shops, shirts with personalized prints, cassettes, and later discs with pirated music and films. There were also numerous illegal foreign currency dealers.^[7]

21st century[]

In time, candy and souvenir shops developed on one side of the passage, while the modernistic section on other side included McDonald's restaurant, modern coffee shop and "Reiffeisen bank". By the 21st century, Bezistan lost the function it had in previous decades and by 2018 it looked like nothing more than a neglected, empty passage.^[3][13] The fountain stopped working, Cinema "Kozara" was closed in 2003, purchased by Croatian tycoon Ivica Todorić and allegedly planned as a supermarket for Todorić's Serbian brand "Idea" before it was destroyed by a fire on 25 May 2012.^[14][16] It has had several owners since then,^[7] with one part being adapted into the night club.

Revitalization and reconstruction was planned for the second half of 2008, but the only work that has been done was the reconstruction of the plateau and the fountain in 2011,^[3][13] when the fountain started working again.^[7] New possible reconstruction was announced in April 2017,^[13] followed by a series of postponing: for October 2017, January, March and May 2018. The 2018 concept design included new paving of the area and reintroduction of the greenery.^[3][4] These plans were drafted by the "Andzor Inženjering" company, which continuously won several city's invitations to tender, and the value of the reconstruction was estimated at 71 million dinars (€600,000).^[17]

Nothing has been done, though, and in May 2019 part of the concrete ceiling collapsed so the city again promised to renovate the passage, sometime in 2019.^[18][19] In February 2020, the city confirmed that Bezistan will not be renovated due to the ownership problems of the lots on which it is located.^[4] After the reports of further deterioration of the ceiling in January 2021, the city announced that Bezistan will not be renovated in 2021 either, even though it became part of the Terazije protected area in January 2020.^[20]

Characteristics[]

Bezistan covers an area of 13,667 m² (147,110 sq ft).^[13] Venues along the outer sides of the passage include old Hotel Kasina, Terazije Theatre, Dom Sindikata with its large hall and multiplex cinema, and the pedestrian Nikola Pašić Square with a fountain.^[5][6] Though officially located at Terazije's No. 27, and with main entry being on the square, the McDonald's company officially named its restaurant "Bezistan".^[21]

Čavketov Pasaž[]

There is a separate section of the passage which forks from Bezistan at the entrance from the Nikola Pašić Square, and goes along the western wall of the Dom Sindikata building. It makes a connection to the Nušićeva Street. The passage in time developed into the artistic, open air gallery, with exhibition panels placed on the walls of the surrounding buildings. The gallery became known as the Street Gallery (ulična galerija). Old box office of the Dom Sindikata hall and cinema were entered from this passage, so as the night club "Promocija", today the jazz canteen "Lisabon".^[22][23]

In May 2012, a group of artists organized the photography exhibition with the images of rock musician and antiwar activist  [sr]. They proposed that passage should be named after Čavke. The city accepted this in January 2013, and the passage was named Čavketov pasaž ("Čavke's passage").^[22][23]

References[]