Building of the Patriarchate

Building of the Patriarchate (Serbian: Зграда Патријаршије) is a building in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the administrative seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its head, the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Finished in 1935, the building was declared a cultural monument on 18 December 1984.

The building is located in the neighborhood of Kosančićev Venac, formerly known as Varoš Kapija, in the municipality of Stari Grad. It is bounded by the streets of Kosančićev Venac on the west, Kneza Sime Markovića on the east and Kralja Petra on the south, occupying majority of the block formed by these streets. Being located in the oldest part of Belgrade outside of the Belgrade Fortress, the building is surrounded by many historical and important edifices and localities: Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park on the north, University of Arts in Belgrade, Park Mihailo Petrović Alas, Mika Alas's House, the Sava river and the historical district of Savamala on the west, Faculty of Applied Arts and Princess Ljubica's Residence on the south, Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel and kafana ?, the oldest, still functioning kafana in Belgrade, on the east. The official address of the building is 6 Kneza Sime Markovića Street.

The lot on which the building stands today was bought by the Serbian state in 1818. One of the konaks of Prince Miloš Obrenović was located there. The building which was the seat of the Metropolis of Belgrade and Karlovci was built in 1863. It was a one-storey building, with simplified and reduced ornaments on the façade. Though modest in terms of architectural value, it was important historically. Before it was demolished to make room for the new building, Patriarch Varnava commissioned the painter Kosta Hakman to paint the edifice. Hakman made two paintings in 1933, one of the central building and another of a small auxiliary kitchen object. Popular myth at the time claimed that in the kitchen object the severed head of Karađorđe was kept in 1817, before Miloš Obrenović sent it to Istanbul. The paintings are kept in the Museum of the Patriarchate at the Patriarchate Court in Sremski Karlovci.

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