The Victor is leaving us for a while: Everything ready for today's removal of the symbol of Belgrade

Foto: Mateja Beljan

After 91 years, the Victor (Serbian: Pobednik) will be temporarily removed from the pedestal, exhibited at Carigradski Road, and then transferred to Smederevo where the repairs will be done.

As announced by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade (ZZSKGB), the Upper Town of the Belgrade Fortress will be closed to visitors until 1 pm today, pending the end of the removal of one of the symbols of the capital, which should begin at 11 am.

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All interested citizens will have the opportunity to watch the whole event live on Facebook, on the ZZSKGB page, and then from 1 pm until 3 pm, see the Victor in person on Carigradski Road of the Belgrade Fortress (entrance from Uzun Mirkova Street).

Photo: ZZSKGB

The last preparations were made yesterday. The scaffolding, nearly 20 meters high, was erected a week ago, the workers began installing exceptionally strong tow cables, the monument has been thoroughly scanned and inspected, while more than 50 employees in the field had various tasks.

A detailed 3D scan revealed that there were exactly 30 shrapnel holes in the monument, mostly made during the Second World War. Most of them, as many as 13, are located in the front. Also, it was found that the figure was secured to the pedestal with only one steel cable running rough its legs. And a wasp's nest was found in the interior of the Victor.

Photo: ZZSKGB

The plan is to carry out the operation of removing the monument using a special car crane by previously tying the sculpture up with tow cables, according to a project done by the Faculty of Civil Engineering. This is a very "touchy" part of the reconstruction, so the size of the car crane, and its weight, had to be taken into account to make sure it could reach the Victor at all, but also later leave the Belgrade Fortress with it via the Clock Tower.

"Based on the information on the equipment available in the market, it was decided to use a crane of sufficient load capacity and dimensions allowing passage through the gates and the weight of the crane itself is less than the maximum permissible load when crossing the bridge at the Clock Tower," the ZZSKGB explained earlier.

Photo: Mateja Beljan

The whole operation has been planned in detail.

The Victor Monument was erected in 1928 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the breakthrough of the Macedonian Front. It consists of a bronze male figure, with a falcon in his left hand and a lowered sword in his right, the work of sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, as well as a pedestal designed in the form of a Doric pillar, which is the work of architect Petar Bajalovic.

The total height of the monument located at the Belgrade Fortress is 17.25 meters. The bronze figure is 4.25 meters high, a stone circular pole with a concrete core and a stone capital is 8.65 meters, while the square pedestal is 4.35 meters high.

(Telegraf.rs)