Eternal Flame (Belgrade)
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The Eternal Flame () is a memorial in the Park of Friendship in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
,
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. It is dedicated to the military and civilian casualties resulting from the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
in 1999 and symbolizes the resistance of the Serbian nation to the attack. The memorial was unveiled on 12 June 2000, commemorating the first anniversary of the end of the bombing. It was vandalized following the
overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly ...
in October 2000 and was left to the elements until its partial renovation in 2019, but the flame remained extinguished.


Location

The memorial is located in the Park of Friendship, in the Belgrade's neighborhood of Ušće. Park of Friendship is part of the larger Park Ušće, in the municipality of
New Belgrade New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
. It is in the park's
plane trees ''Platanus'' ( ) is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. The type ...
alley, some away from the central landmark in this part of Belgrade, the Ušće Towers skyscrapers. The location of the present monument was formerly occupied by a statue of pharaoh
Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...
, a gift from the government of
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.


History


Origin

The monument was largely conceived by
Mirjana Marković Mirjana "Mira" Marković ( sr-cyr, Мирјана "Мира" Марковић, ; 10 July 1942 – 14 April 2019) was a Serbian politician, academic and the wife of Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. She was the leader of th ...
, the leader of the
Yugoslav Left The Yugoslav Left, also known as the Yugoslav United Left (JUL), was a political party in Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At its peak, the party had 20 seats in Republic of Serbia's National Assembly following the 1997 general e ...
and wife of Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
. It was originally planned to have a height of 78 meters, to symbolize the 78 days of the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
. It was completed in only 10 days ("overnight") without following any of the legal standards and procedures for such objects, being at odds with the legal procedures stipulated by the city administration. The arrangement of the
precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable molding (process), mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples i ...
elements actually lasted only 9 days. Over 500 workers were employed in total to finish it in record time, so as to arrange the surrounding plateau area of . There were never less than 160 workers at one moment on the construction site, and they worked day and night. The monument was unveiled by
Serbian president The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...
Milan Milutinović Milan Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Милутиновић, ; 19 December 1942 – 2 July 2023) was a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 1997 to 2002. Milutinović served as Secretary for Education and Science of ...
on 12 June 2000. The ceremony was attended by Federal Defence Minister
Dragoljub Ojdanić Dragoljub Ojdanić ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Ојданић; 1 June 1941 – 6 September 2020) was a Serbian General of the army who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia and Minister of Defence of Yugos ...
, chairman of the Directorate for the Reconstruction of the Country Milutin Mrkonjić and many other high-ranking Yugoslav officials and members of the cultural and scientific elite. Also, in the transport organized by the state, several thousand people from other parts of Serbia were transported by buses to Belgrade, to attend the unveiling.


Later developments

During the
overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly ...
on 5 October 2000, the monument was vandalized and the gas flow was cut off. Notably, an early intervention was the replacement of the word "vatra" () with "vutra" – the word for marijuana in the
šatrovački ''Šatrovački'' (; Serbian Cyrillic: шатровачки) or ''šatra'' (; Serbian Cyrillic: шатра) is an argot within the Serbo-Croatian language comparable to verlan in French or vesre in Spanish. Šatrovački was initially developed ...
street slang. Younger population referred to the entire monument as the "večna vutra" ("eternal marijuana"). In the following years, the obelisk was defaced with graffiti and the letters of the inscription were progressively stolen until only two commas were left in 2006. This has been studied by the Russian-Swedish artist Alexander Vaindorf as an example of the mechanisms of the reconstruction of history. At one point, homeless people dwelled in the base of the monument. Being built without any necessary permits, the monument was officially considered illegal ("unregulated status"), so it could't be legally renovated by any state or local institution. Despite it was built by the state government at the time, it was constructed illegally and not even government can break laws and procedures. In the 2000s, city officials deliberated on the issue as after the political change in 2000, the monument was treated as the "wild llegalconstruction" without any official memorial meaning. Actually, if city itself acted legally in this matter, the monument had to be demolished. Unlike the monument, the surrounding plateau and the green areas were regularly kept. Still, the city decided not to demolish it "just because it was built by Mira Marković". After consulting with several artists, it was decided to legalize the monument, with certain esthetic corrections on the memorial. Parts of the plans included replacement of the bronze flame sculptured on top of the obelisk, with fire burning inside, which was deemed contradictory. It was also suggested to replace the inscription with the more appropriate one, which would ease the feeling of the monument as the foreign object in given space. Relocation was also mentioned. City administration then abandoned any plans and works on the subject, claiming that the authors of the monument objected the remodeling, though in some cases the consent is not necessary. One of the co-authors, sculptor Svetomir Radović, who also had issues with the monument as it turned out in the end, said that no one contacted him and that he wouldn't mind the remodeling if he finds it appropriate. Thanks to an initiative by the Generals and Admirals Club of Serbia, the monument was cleaned in 2009. The Street and Square Names Commission stated that the monument was never restored because it was erected contrary to usual procedure, and was not protected by the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. The government allocated certain funds to renovate the monument in 2009, but the installations were so damaged that they eventually gave up. The plateau surrounding the monument was fully renovated in 2019. In March 2019, the
Party of Modern Serbia The Party of Modern Serbia (, abbr. SMS) is a liberal political party in Serbia. It was established on 14 December 2018 around former MPs from Enough is Enough. History Five MPs that left the opposition parliamentary group Enough is Enoug ...
started an initiative to rededicate the monument as a ''Monument to the Victims of the 1987–2000 Regime''.


Restoration

In March 2020, city administration, which since 2013 has been the same as prior to 2000, announced that the monument will be legalized. Deputy mayor Goran Vesić said that the flame will be lit again on 24 March, on 21st anniversary of the bombing, but also added that gas installations feeding the burner are in extremely bad shape, which may prolong the deadline for a week. However, the flame wasn't lit after all.


Design

The entire sculptural-spatial composition was designed by the sculptors brothers Svetomir and Svetozar Radović, and architects Marko Stevanović and Miodrag Cvijić. However, Mirjana Marković had the final say. The monument consists of a tall concrete obelisk, topped with a bronze fire sculpture from which an
eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...
protrudes. The bronze representation of the flame weights 5 tons. The gas for the eternal flame was supplied by the company " Energogas" and the two gas tanks, fenced by wire, are located left from the monument. The flame has been out of work since October 2000. The corners of the pedestal were originally decorated with 4
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
s ("light cannons"), mounted on the base of the obelisk. Their light beams intersected above the bronze torch on top of the composition, beaming into the sky to the height of . Before the lights were activated in 2000, as Serbia previously had no such light beams in open space, the Belgrade
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
had to be notified. The lights were later stolen.


Inscription

The eastern wall of the obelisk's base was originally decorated with a short text by Mirjana Marković herself. Her text was named "Eternal Flame". The memorial was also inscribed with the names of its four authors and designers, but also names of the companies which donated money or worked on monument's construction. The letters of the text have all been stolen. For the lateral sides (northern and southern walls), which are decorated with marble blocks, Marković decided to use quotes from the poems ''Jugoslavija'' (Yugoslavia) and ''Domovini'' (To the Homeland) by the poet
Branko Miljković Branko Miljković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Миљковић; 29 January 1934 – 12 February 1961) was a Serbian poet. Biography Miljković was born in Niš to a Serb father Gligorije Miljković, who hails from Gadžin Han, and a Croat m ...
. Miljković's verses survived as, unlike the main inscription, were carved into the marble.


Criticism and controversies

Despite president Milutinović said at the dedication that "this fire will be the lighthouse for the future generations, a witness that Serbia will defend its freedom as long as we live like a nation in this area", and the pompous unveiling, the monument was dislike by the public from the start as the idea originated from highly disliked Mirjana Marković. The monument and what it represents was deeply analyzed at time. Signing "people of Serbia" under her text was seen as problematic, and especially Marković's usage of
Branko Miljković Branko Miljković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Миљковић; 29 January 1934 – 12 February 1961) was a Serbian poet. Biography Miljković was born in Niš to a Serb father Gligorije Miljković, who hails from Gadžin Han, and a Croat m ...
's lyrics, both in terms of their true meaning and author's rights. The monument itself was seen as the symbolic compensation (virtual copy, imperfect reincarnation) for the nearby building of the Ušće Tower, which was bombed and burnt in the attack during the war and was unpleasant evidence for the Serbian political elite which aimed to present itself as the architect of the new Serbian reality. The regular cuts of the design and white surfaces were to outshine the sooty and burnt, at time still not reconstructed, Ušće Tower. Co-author Svetomir Radović, criticized the text compiled by Mirjana Marković, considering it improper for the work of art, and too long. Instead of the lyrics and listing the names of the countries which bombed Serbia, he thought that the inscription "Eternal flame for the victioms of NATO aggression - people of Serbia" would be better solution. Radović added that the monument wasn't built by Marković, not the state, but by the tax payers. He also opted for the concrete pedestal to be plated with marble and granite slabs so it could be more easily cleaned from the graffiti, but due to the hastiness in construction, this was left out. Some described the bronze fire on top of the obelisk looking more like a
rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
or the
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
. Ljubiša Strojimirović, president of the Generals and Admirals Club of Serbia which instigated the partial renovation of the monument in 2009, said that the monument is on an excellent location, but that its design is esthetically not the best solution. The fate of the statue of the pharaoh Thutmose III is unknown. Gift from the government of Egypt, it was removed to make way for the new monument. In the process it disappeared, and is believed to be part of some private collection today. In 2010, city tried to find the whereabouts of the pharaoh's sculpture, but it ultimately failed or abandoned the search.


Eternal Flame II

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ново гробље, Novo groblje) is a cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, ...
is located in Belgrade's municipality of
Zvezdara Zvezdara ( sr-cyr, Звездара, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. The municipality is geographically hilly and with many forests. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 172,625 inhabitants. The ...
. Part of the cemetery's complex, the Cemetery of Belgrade Liberators built in 1954, contains graves of 2,944 National Liberation Army soldiers and 961
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
soldiers and the
mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...
of 1,381 National Liberation Army soldiers and 711 Red Army soldiers who died during the 1944 Belgrade Offensive. During his visit to Belgrade in February 2020, Russian Minister of Defence
Sergey Shoygu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Security Council since 2024. He served ...
brought a pot of Russian earth, which was poured at the location of the future memorial, also named Eternal Flame, thus marking the beginning of its construction. The sculptural-architectural composition is work of the Russian sculptor Andrey Tyrtyshnikov. Opening was planned for 26 March, during the visit of the Russian foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...
to Serbia. This was all postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In September 2020 it was announced that the memorial will be finished by the end of the year. On 14 December 2020, the flame was lit from the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow and transported to Belgrade by the Russian Defence ministry's plane. It was lit the next day, in the presence of Serbian president
Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
and minister Lavrov.


Gallery


See also

* Park of Friendship, New Belgrade *
Mirjana Marković Mirjana "Mira" Marković ( sr-cyr, Мирјана "Мира" Марковић, ; 10 July 1942 – 14 April 2019) was a Serbian politician, academic and the wife of Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. She was the leader of th ...


References


External links

*{{commons category-inline, Eternal flame (Belgrade) 2000 establishments in Serbia Buildings and structures completed in 2000 Monuments and memorials in Serbia Buildings and structures in Belgrade Culture in Belgrade Vandalized works of art Tourist attractions in Belgrade Eternal flames New Belgrade 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia