We passed this square on a bus, and the statue in the middle of it jumped out at me. But since it was night, and the bus was moving, I missed the chance to get a good photo. So I have borrowed this one.
Stefan Nemanja is an important figure in the history of Serbia, obviously. He ran the place from 1166 to 1196, and as Grand Prince he created the Serbian Empire as well as the Serbian Church. After that he retired from ruling and became a monk for the final three years of his life. After that he picked up the nickname of St. Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher, which would never fit on a baseball card.
This is a big statue. It's 75 feet high and 76 tons in weight, sitting just outside the old railway station. It was unveiled in a 2021 ceremony.
“Standing here means repentance for all the years during which we forgot it, but also the awareness that we have finally discovered the root from which the most beautiful tree called Serbia originated,” the President Aleksander Vucic said that day. “Pray to God for us, Blessed Simeon, that your flock may be preserved inviolable! Glory to thee! Long live Serbia!”
Here is a look around the neighborhood:
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