Narodno pozorište u Beogradu osnovano je još u devetnaestom veku. Danas predstavlja kulturni centar prestonice. Na početku se nalazilo u Kosmajskoj ulici, a prva predstava koja je u njemu izvedena je “Đurađ Branković”. Posle toga, predstave su igrale i u salama hotela, magazinu Carinarnice, kao i u kafani “Kod engleske kraljice”.
Nakon toga počeli su da se sakupljaju dobrotvorni prilozi za izgradnju pozorišta, a knez Aleksandar Karađorđević je sam priložio 1.000 dukata za izgradnju toga zdanja. Vlada Kneževine Srbije poklonila je zemlju na Zelenom vencu i gradnja je započeta. Međutim, zbog podvodne prirodne tla na toj lokaciji, zidanje pozorišta je otkazano.
Knez Mihailo je 1968. godine, oduševljen predstavom gostujućih glumaca iz Srpskog narodnog pozorišta iz Novog Sada, u dogovoru sa njima odlučio da podigne zgradu Narodnog pozorišta. Upravo knez Mihailo bio je taj koji je odlučio da se zgrada podigne na nekadašnjem turskom zemljištu – istog dana započelo se rušenje turskih kuća i priprema terena za izgradnju ovog zdanja.
Ono što je posebno interesantno jeste da se Narodno pozorište nalazi na mestu na kojem je nekada bila čuvena Stambol kapija. Knez Mihailo bio je taj koj ije naredio rušenje te kapije, jer je ona u narodu predstavljalasimbol stradanja pod Osmanskom vladavinom – Turci su često ispred ove kapije Srbije nabijali na kolac. Danas Stambol kapije više nema, a njeni delovi ugrađeni su u temelje zgrade Narodnog pozorišta. Zbog toga možemo reći da osim kvalitetnog kulturnog programa, ovo pozorište čuva jednu staru beograsku, više vekova čuvanu tajnu.
NATIONAL THEATRE – SECRET KEEPER AND CULTURAL CENTER OF BELGRADE
The National Theater in Belgrade was founded in the nineteenth century. Today it represents the cultural center of the capital. It was originally located in Kosmajska Street, and the first performance that was performed in it was “Djuradj Brankovic”. After that, the performances were played in the hotel halls, the Customs House magazine, as well as in the “English Queen’s” cafe.
After that collect charitable contributions for the construction of the theater began, and Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic himself had provided 1.000 ducats for the construction of this building. The Government of the Principality of Serbia donated the land on Zeleni venac neighborhood and the construction was started. However, due to the underwater and the bad ground at that location, the building of the theater was canceled.
In 1968, Knez Mihailo, delighted with the performance of guest actors from the Serbian National Theater from Novi Sad, decided to erect the building of the National Theater in agreement with them. Knez Mihailo was the person who had decided to build the building on the former Turkish land – the same day the demolition of Turkish houses and the preparation of the ground for the construction of this building began.
National Theater is located in a place where the famous Stambol Gate once was. Prince Mihailo was the one who ordered the demolition of this gate, because Serbian people considered this Gate as the symbol of the suffering under Ottoman rule – Turks were often tourturing Serbs in front of this gate. Today there is no Stambol Gate, and its parts are built into the foundations of the National Theater building. That is why we can say that apart from a quality cultural program, this theater keeps an Belgrade, centuries-old secret.
GLAS NACIJE
