Beli dvor

The White Palace (Serbian: Бели двор, Beli dvor) is the official residence of the Yugoslav former royal family (the Royal House of Karageorgevich). It is located within the Royal Compound, in the Dedinje neighborhood of Belgrade.[1]

White Palace
Бели двор / Beli dvor
Front entrance of the White Palace
General information
Architectural styleneopalladian
LocationDedinje, Belgrade
CountrySerbia
Coordinates44°46′13.37″N 20°26′55.57″E
Construction started1934
Completed1937
OwnerSerbian government
Design and construction
Architect(s)Aleksandar Đorđević

The palace was designed by architect Aleksandar Đorđević in a neo-Palladian style, inspired by 18th century English country houses such as Ditchley Park. Its interior was decorated with English Georgian and 19th century Russian antiques by the French design firm Maison Jansen, which later decorated the White House during the administration of John F. Kennedy.[2]

History

The palace was commissioned by and built with the personal funds of King Alexander I for his three sons.[1] Alexander was assassinated during a state visit to Marseille, France, in the same year that the construction of the palace began. Supervision of construction was overtaken by the Prince Regent Paul until its completion in 1937. Queen Maria and her three sons, including the 11-year-old King Peter II, continued to reside in the Royal Palace during this time.[1] Prince Paul was the only member of the royal family to reside in the palace before the outbreak of the Second World War and subsequent invasion of Yugoslavia.

Following the end of the war, the new communist government seized the assets and property of the royal family. The White Palace was periodically used by president Josip Broz Tito and later by Slobodan Milošević for official state functions and foreign visits. Milošević received U.S. envoy Richard Holbrook at the palace before the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began; Milošević later officially resigned his presidency in front of the palace fireplace.[3]

The White Palace is open for public visitations on weekends during the tourist season from April to November.[4]

The Royal Compound has also participated in tourism fairs in Belgrade and Novi Sad and during the Days of the European Cultural Heritage.[5][6]

Art collection

The qualified tour guides at the Palace will tell any visitor that the White Palace's notable works of art include paintings by Piero di Cosimo, Biagio d'Antonio, Nicolas Poussin (3 works), Giovanni Cariani, Sébastien Bourdon, Albrecht Altdorfer, Titian, Rembrandt attribution, Palma Vecchio (2 paintings), Carlo Caliari, Peter Paul Rubens, Carel Fabritius, Simon Vouet, two paintings by Brueghel, Antonio Canaletto, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Giuseppe Crespi, Nicolae Grigorescu, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Eugène Fromentin, Gaspard Dughet, Richard Parkes Bonington, Đura Jakšić, Ivan Meštrović, Vlaho Bukovac and others. The green and white Sèvres porcelain service was purchased in 1932 in Paris from the gallery Charpentier. The service once belonged to the Comte d'Artois.

There is also a library which had about 35,000 books

Lootings and theft

Many of the palace's works of art were looted by communist Partisans in 1944, following the liberation of Belgrade from German occupation. One of the looted pieces was the Rembrandt school's painting 'Quint Fabius Maximus'.[7]

Selected works of art
Main hallway of the White Palace
Nicolas Poussin Landscape with Three Monks

References
  1. "The White Palace". royalfamily.org. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  2. James Archer Abbott, Jansen, New York: Acanthus Press, 2005
  3. "Čas istorije na Belom dvoru" (in Serbian). Stil magazin. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  4. The Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, Palaces open for visitors until 25 November 2007 (press release), Belgrade, 7 November 2007.
  5. The Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, Palaces welcome European heritage and extended tourist season (press release), Belgrade, 11 September 2007.
  6. The Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, Royal Compound presented at Novi Sad Fair 9–12 October (press release), Belgrade, 9 October 2007.
  7. "Tajne dvora Karađorđevića". Archived from the original on 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  9. "Umetnički predmet meseca". Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  11. "The Royal Palaces". Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  12. "NIN / Vratite Muzej kneza Pavla".
  14. "Umetnički predmet meseca". Archived from the original on 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
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