Grčka Kraljica or Greek Queen () is a former kafana in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Built in 1835, the building is located on Knez Mihailova Street, the commercial hub of downtown Belgrade. For decades, it was one of the favorite kafanas in the city, but it was closed in 2007.
Location
Grčka Kraljica is located at 51 Knez Mihailova street, near the end of the street and close to Kalemegdan Park, in the municipality of Stari Grad. It is situated on the corner of Knez Mihailova and Rajićeva streets. West of the building, across the Rajićeva, is the Faculty of Fine Arts, part of University of Arts in Belgrade. To the north and northwest, across the Knez Mihailova, are the City Library and the Rajićeva Shopping Mall.
History
Origin
The lot on which the building was constructed was location of one of the three water towers which made city waterworks during the Ottoman period. The Ottomans constructed an aqueduct (đeriz), to conduct water from the springs in the area of Veliki Mokri Lug. In downtown, they built three water towers: one at Terazije, another at Ruski Car and third where Grčka Kraljica is today. With pipes, the water was being lifted in the towers to give it additional force for further flow.
Hajim Davičo, a personal supplier to the ruling prince Miloš Obrenović, opened one of the first, and the most popular, bureau de change on this location. Davičo was held in high esteem and, operating since 1816, his exchange office was considered to having the most trustworthy exchange rate. His business was so important in the just liberated state without its own currency, that his bureau practically functioned as a national bank.
The land was purchased by Despot Stefanović who built the one floor edifice in 1835. The author of the project is not known and the venue became a kafana (meyhane) immediately, named Despotov Han ("Despots khan") after its owner and didn't change its purpose in the next 172 years, until it was closed. The building has a cellar and a backyard, while the floor was adapted into the rooms for rent. Originally, there were 8 rooms, later 11 and then 14, when the upper floor with 8 rooms was added in the c1850. After a while, the upper floor was adapted into the residential space.
At the beginning, Despotov Han also operated as the first recorded brothel in Belgrade. This was the reason why Stefanović built additional floor with "day rooms" in the 1840s. However, the prostitution was not only morally questionable but also illegal, so when it became the widely known public fact, the venue quit the practice. The sex workers moved into the streets, while the khan survived the infamy and continued as regular kafana.