Belgrade, “Old Lady”

One of the features of Belgrade is certainly a skyscraper in the city center. Famous Palace “Albania”. more than 70 years old, erected on the site of the former tavern “Albania”. The building is in the center of Belgrade at the corner of Kolarcev and Prince Mihailova Street.

<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="https://www.gdeizaci.com/novosti/zanimljivosti/4383-kafana-stara-pesma-pise-za-vas-kafana-kao-ogledalo-drustva" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.gdeizaci.com/novosti/zanimljivosti/4383-kafana-stara-pesma-pise-za-vas-kafana-kao-ogledalo-drustva</a>

In this place, probably in 1840, a house was erected where the tavern “In Albania” was located. This tavern was at an excellent location, near the hotel of Moscow. The 1938 government report says that the tavern was mostly constructed of mud, a dense tree, and that it had enormous ventilation problems.The restaurateur in this café was Mihailo Kostic, who signed with “Albaneze Skenderbeg”. That is why it was named “Albania”.

<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="http://www.staribeograd.com/galerija/v/Fotografije/Kafana+Albanija+1930-tih.jpg.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.staribeograd.com/galerija/v/Fotografije/Kafana+Albanija+1930-tih.jpg.html</a>

Belgrade bohemians loved this tavern, but to their sorrow, it was destroyed on Oct. 17, 1936.In autumn morning, on October 20, 1939, Belgrade gets its first skyscraper, and Southeast Europe  the tallest building in its history.

<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="http://beogradska.blog.rs/blog/beogradska/generalna/2009/08/31/palata-albanija" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://beogradska.blog.rs/blog/beogradska/generalna/2009/08/31/palata-albanija</a>

The Second World War is destroying Europe, so it comes to Belgrade. The first and last city bombed in the 20th century during this war was several times swamped by bombs. During the bombing of the Allied forces in 1944, a heavy half-ton of bombs fell on the skyscraper. However, thanks to Djordje Lazarevic, who took part in the construction of the palace, this bomb fails to collapse the building.

<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="https://urbancityradio.org/secanje-na-6-april-1941/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://urbancityradio.org/secanje-na-6-april-1941/</a>

The palace in 1983 became a cultural asset of great importance, and today it has several purposes. On the ground floor there are numerous shops, and on 13 floors are arranged the premises of the insurance company, the optical shop, the law office and the Deposit Insurance Agency.