The Royal Compound

The Royal Complex

 

As a great lover of art and architecture, HM King Alexander I, with his private funds, built the Royal Complex, a jewel of the historical heritage of Serbia, it consists of two Palaces - the Royal Palace and the White Palace, which are different in style and concept, as well as the Royal Park - a masterpiece of landscape architecture.

The Royal Palace, as the most dominant building in the Royal Compound, has been the home of the Royal Family since 1929, when the construction was completed. The idea of building a new Royal House and moving it from the center of the city to a more peaceful and intimate environment came personally from King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, just before his wedding with the Romanian Princess Maria in 1922. For the location of his family’s private home, the King chose the highest hill of Dedinje, which is at the same time isolated, but also dominant in the wider view of Belgrade. The Royal Palace unites elements of Serbian-Byzantine architecture, Balkan town houses and European aristocratic villas. The chief architect was Zivojin Nikolic, with substantial help of his colleagues – Nikolay Krasnov and Viktor Lukomski – emigrants from Russia who found a safe haven in Serbia after October Revolution, with great support of King Alexander I.   

Being a great admirer of art and supporter of artists, King Alexander I caringly engaged in the creation of the Royal art collection, for which he, with his own funds, purchased artworks by both domestic authors and old foreign masters. Today, in the Royal Complex, one can see the works of Paja Jovanovic, Toma Rosandic, Ivan Mestrovic, Jovan Bijelic, Palma Vecchio, Ivan Aivazovsky, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Antonio Canaletto, Nicolas Poussin, Sébastien Bourdon, and many others.

The Royal chapel is dedicated to Apostle Saint Andrew the First Called, the Patron Saint of the Royal Family. The construction of the chapel began in the same year as the Royal Palace and is connected to it by a corridor with a colonnade, which provides visitors with a beautiful panoramic view of the northern, western and southern part of Belgrade, but also the nurtured rose gardens below the terrace. The Royal chapel was built on the model of the medieval King's Church from the Studenica Monastery, the endowment of King Milutin, and the Church of St. Andrew on the Treska River in Macedonia, the memorial church of King Vukasin's son. The Royal Chapel was painted by Russian masters, who had previously travelled through Serbia to get acquainted with the superb examples of our medieval fresco painting and used those frescoes as a model to paint some of the most famous and beautiful frescoes in the Royal chapel.

Gallery