Pioneers Park () is a park in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Developed from the royal garden, which itself was a successor of a much older garden, it is today one of the central city parks. It has been open for public since 1944. The park has been declared a botanical natural monument.
Location
The park is located in the municipality of Stari Grad. It is bounded by the streets of Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra on the northeast, Kneza Miloša on the southeast, Kralja Milana on the west and Dragoslava Jovanovićа on the north, occupying majority of the area in the block formed by these streets. Being located in downtown Belgrade, it is surrounded by important city buildings and localities: House of the National Assembly of Serbia, Nikola Pašić Square, Dom Sindikata on the north, former royal courts of Stari Dvor and Novi Dvor, Andrićev Venac, Terazije on the west, London on the southwest, Krunski Venac on the south, Tašmajdan on the east.
Though they are intersected with the streets, Pioneers Park forms a larger green sector with the surrounding parks and green areas: Tašmajdan Park (east), Park at the National Assembly (north), Andrićev Venac (west) and Park Aleksandrov (further west, across the Kralja Milana). Easternmost point of the park, at the crossroad of the Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, Kneza Miloša and Takovska streets, it the tripoint of the municipalities Vračar, Stari Grad and Palilula.
History
Origin
The garden already existed at least in the early 18th century. During the Austrian occupation of northern Serbia 1717-39, several hospitals were established in Belgrade, including the Great military hospital. Based on the Austrian plans, the hospital was set outside of the Belgrade Fortress ("Danubian" or "German Belgrade"), in the Serbian part of the city. As shown on the map of Belgrade by Nicolas François de Spar, the Tsarigrad Road began at the Württemberg Gate (Stambol Gate), at the modern Republic Square, and headed towards "Marko's cemetery" in Tašmajdan. The hospital was situated on the road's right side, where the modern Stari Dvor is located. Behind the hospital there was a large garden, predecessor of the modern park, and further behind it, across the road was the military cemetery. Later "Marko's market" developed on the spot and today it is the area surrounding the House of the National Assembly of Serbia. After Austria lost the Austro-Turkish War of 1737–1739, the northern Serbia, including Belgrade, was returned to the Turks. One of the provisions of the 1739 Treaty of Belgrade stated that Austria had to demolish all the fortifications and military and civilian buildings it has constructed during the occupation. Many Baroque buildings were demolished. However, Austria didn't demolish the buildings outside of the fortress walls, including the Great military hospital, which, albeit as a ruin, survived until the next Austrian occupation in 1788.
Royal Garden
Stojan Simić, a politician and a businessman, member of the influential Simić family, notable in the 19th century Serbia both in politics and culture, purchased the lot in the late 1830s. It was a piece of marshland which encompassed the modern features of Stari Dvor, Pioneers Park and Park Aleksandrov. Simić drained the marsh, filled and leveled the terrain and on the northern side of the modern Kralja Milana street constructed a house 1840-42. The edifice became known as the Old Konak. Development of the first Serbian royal compound began in 1843-43, when the ruling prince Alexander Karađorđević purchased the konak with the surrounding garden. Princess Persida, the wife of Prince Aleksandar, paid attention to the cultivating of the court garden and turning it into the more representatively decorated "vernacular garden". Instigated by King Milan, the palace itself was built between 1882 and 1884, according to the design of Aleksandar Bugarski, in the style of academism of the 19th century. Today, the building serves as a Belgrade City Hall.
King Milan (ruled 1868-89) invested much time and funding into the garden, more than any other ruler. Even today some of the plants from that period survive. British traveler Herbert Vivian (1865-1940) visited the court and the garden in 1896 and described it as having the "Dutch garden, beautiful like those on the estate of Henry VIII, outside of London". The garden had decorative and ornamental plants, cricket field, tennis court, bowling alley and musical pavilion. Not many historical records on the garden survived, though. Due to the construction of two palaces next to it, and constant change of the ruling dynasties, the Karađorđević and the Obrenović, chronicles were mostly concentrated on the rulers and the buildings, not the garden.