MUSEUM OF YUGOSLAV HISTORY

The Museum of Yugoslav History (short MIJ) was founded in 1996, as an illustration of Yugoslav history throughout 20th century, with the special accent on life and work of Josip Broz Tito. The museum complex includes „The May 25 Museum“, „The Old Museum“,  „The House of Flowers“ and a park with a flower garden and sculptures of Serbian artists. 

 

The May 25 Museum

The May 25 Museum was built as a gift to Josip Broz Tito for his seventieth birthday. Until 1982 the museum kept a collection of Tito’s batons and gifts he received, both home and abroad.  Visitors could also watch documentaries about his life and work, and there were organized meetings of young people and artists. Today, the museum represents the facility of the Josip Broz Tito Memorial Centre, which collects and preserves documents and objects of Tito’s life and work. You can go there to exhibitions and events organized by the MIJ.

By his own wish, Tito was burried in The House of Flowers, in 1980

The House of Flowers is a beautiful winter garden built for Tito, close to his residence. It comprises a central flower garden and two utility spaces. Opposite the entrance is an open terrace overlooking Belgrade. 

The Old Museum represents a part of MIJ’s ethnogrtaphic collection. There you can see interesting objects such as the japanese „tanto“ sword, an 1870 national costume from Prizren, and a stone gusle (a one-stringed folk fiddle ) which has been crafted from a single piece of stone.

Every weekend, there is a free tour with a professional guidance through the MIJ complex.  The tour on english language starts at 12pm. The tour starts at the entrance of MIJ and continues through all the parts of the complex. It includes an interesting story about the museum’s history, facts about Yugoslavia, Tito’s personality and many other themes and discusions.

 

 

                                NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BELGRADE

The National Museum was founded by a decree of the Minister of Education Jovan Sterija Popovic on May 10, 1844 as Serbian Museum whose purpose was to collect antiquities in one place and to safeguard them for posterity. This is the oldest and the largest museum in Serbia. It is located in the Republic Square in Belgrade. The museum collection has over 400.000 objects. Today, it holds 34 archeological, numismatic, artistic and historical collections.

The main archeological collection consists of sculptures from Vinca, such as Lady of Vinca and Lepenski Vir. There are also numerous sculptures, weapons, helmets and other items from ancient Rome, 1005 items from ancient Greece and various items of Celtic origin. The most valuable pieces from that period are Dupljaja Chariot, golden masks from Trebenište, household sets from Jabučje, the Belgrade Cameo and a Silver belt with swastika. There is also a collection from ancient Egypt. The most famous piece is a rare gold sarcophagus and mummy of the Egyptian priest Nesmin.
The Numismatic Collection has more than 300,000 items (coins, medals, rings, seals). The collection is divided into ten smaller assemblies from 6th–5th century BC, and includes a collection of coins issued by Philip II of Macedonian and Alexander the Great. The collection also contains unique items: a golden medallion of Emperor Valentinian I, minted 364 AD, silver Dinars from the reign of King Stefan Radoslav of Serbia, and others.

The Collection of Drawings and Prints of International Artists has 2,446 items and the Yugoslav Art Collection has more than 6,000 items, including 1,700 paintings of Serbian authors from 18th to 19th century and 3,000 paintings from 20th century. This does not include the Serbian Medieval Art Collection. The museum includes Serbian medieval, French, Dutch, Flemish, Italian, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese, English, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Yugoslav and miscellaneous art collections. In total the collection numbers some 16,000 paintings, graphics, drawings, icons and prints, plus over 900 sculptures. Some of the museums French highlights are: Nicolas Tournier, Robert Tournier, Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac and others. Italian art collection includes paintings of artists such as: Paolo Veneziano, Raphael, Andrea Solari, Titian, Tintoretto, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and others. And there are many dutch, russian, english, japanese and other collections, including many famous artists (Alfred Sisley, Orest Kiprensky, Kunisada, El Greco, Pablo Picasso, Paja Jovanovic, Uros Predic, Nadezda Petrovic...) There are also many sculptures from the early Roman period to the 20th century.

The museum is open for visit every day except Monday, here on the official museum site you can find details and information you need: http://en.narodnimuzej.rs/