Veljkovic House (SRB) - Houses of the Month 2.0

The Veljkovic Family House is located in the municipality of Savski venac in Belgrade, Serbia. It was built in 1883 according to the academic architectural style, and it is now listed as one of the Cultural Goods of Belgrade.
The house was bought by the great-grandfather of current owner Katarina Veljkovic-Beigbeder, at the very beginning of the 19th century. After the Russian soviet army entered Belgrade in 1944, the house was damaged by a Russian tank. From then on, the house and the family saw a continuous coming and going of both soldiers and local people, slowly plundering the house. Later, the house was requisitioned and became property of the State, which then accommodated a dozen families. After six years of legal proceedings, the family eventually got their house back; however, according to communist laws, all the people living there were entitled to stay forever.
The Veljkovic family ran away to Slovenia, the house remaining under the custody of Katarina’s uncle. After a long fight, he succeeded in putting the house under protection of the Institute for Conservation of Cultural Goods. However, only the walls were protected, which led to the interior being severely damaged over the years. The families living there progressively left the house as it gradually deteriorated.
In 1991, the current owners started renovating the house, room by room, with a very limited budget : it took twenty years to save the house. This is a good example of the passion, time, effort and money put by private owners to preserve, at any cost, our common heritage.
The Veljkovic family house is now open for diverse Serbian and European cultural events like special Museum Nights or the annual European Heritage Days.

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"BRAVO" C'est Magnifique!!

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N'est-ce pas ? :)