THE ROYAL COMPOUND AT DEDINJE, BELGRADE OPENED AGAIN FOR TOURISTS

Belgrade, 1 April 2006 - In cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Serbia and Tourist Organization of Belgrade, and with the great engagement of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Katherine, the Royal compound has opened its gate for tourists again.

On each Saturday and Sunday at 11 am and 2 pm from today until the end of October, in organized groups and accompanied by experienced tour guides, the tourists will have the opportunity to visit the Royal Compound, introduce themselves to its beauty, and walk through the park, which covers over 100 hectares. Same as last year, the visits will be organized only with previous registration at the Tourist Information Center – “Albania Tower” pedestrian passage, phone number: (011) 635 622, contact: Andjelka Vukovic. The group can consist of 50 people at most. The route of the tour includes The Royal Palace, The White Palace and The Royal Chapel of Saint Andrew the First Called.

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace was built between 1924 and 1929 with the private funds of His Majesty King Alexander I (the grandfather of HRH Crown Prince Alexander). The architects were Zivojin Nikolic and Nikolay Krassnoff of the Russian Royal Academy. The palace is made of white stone in the Serbian-Byzantine style. Attached to The Royal Palace there is a Royal Chapel dedicated to Saint Apostle Andrew The First-Called, the Patron Saint of The Royal Family. The Royal Palace was the home of King Alexander I and King Peter II (father of Crown Prince Alexander). Today The Royal Palace is the home of Crown Prince Alexander II and his family.

The White Palace

The White Palace is located in the same complex as The Royal Palace and it was commissioned by command of His Majesty King Alexander I as the residence for his three sons TRH Crown Prince Peter (the future King Peter II), Prince Tomislav and Prince Andrej.

King Alexander I envisaged that his three sons would require their own private accommodation when they became of age, but his assassination in Marseille caused the destiny of his sons to take a different turn. The young King Peter II became the new master of the Dedinje Complex and the completion of The White Palace was supervised by King Peter II his great uncle HRH Prince Regent Paul. It was built from 1934 until 1937, as the project of the architect Alexander Djordjevic. When completed it became the official residence on loan to HRH Prince Regent Paul and his family, until King Peter II became of age.

The ground floor of this classicistic palace houses a large hall and a number of drawing rooms furnished in the style of Louis XV and Louis XVI with large Venetian chandeliers. There is also a library, which had more than 35 000 books and a formal Chippendale dining room.

The Royal Chapel of Saint Andrew the First Called

The Palace Church is attached to the south side of The Royal Palace and linked to the main building by a colonnade of stone pillars. The Church is dedicated to St. Andrew the First Called (the Royal Family’s Patron Saint). The Church is based on the model of the monastery Church of Saint Andrew on the River Treska in Macedonia, which was built by Andrew the son of the Serbian medieval King Vukasin. The Royal Chapel was designed and built at the same time as The Royal Palace.

The interior of the Church is covered with frescoes painted by a team of artists from the Belgrade Artist Association. Following King Alexander I instructions this group visited most of the Serbian medieval monasteries in order to copy their frescos. The group was led by academician Nikolai Kasnoff. After preparing the walls and cataloging the drawings, the final decision to go ahead was made by King Alexander I. The Russian painters Boris Obrascov, Nikolai Maiendorf, Vladimir Bickovski, Viktor Sevcov, and Reitlinger and Evgeny Varnu-Secret were chosen to paint the Church. All painters were requested to produce records of their previous work in medieval monasteries. The whole project for the completion of the Church took about 36 months.

This is only a brief introduction for all interested citizens, who we invite to visit this extraordinary cultural and historical place that tens of thousands domestic and foreign tourists and guests visited  last year.