Hotel Moskva is one of the oldest currently operating hotels in Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 and Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. Apart from being a hotel, Hotel Moskva is one of the most recognizable landmarks of Belgrade, a valuable architectural monument and as such, it was placed under governmental protection.

Location

Hotel Moskva is located on the Terazije

Terazije

Terazije is the central square and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :...

 square, core of Belgrade's downtown. It lies on the crossroads of three streets: Terazije, Prizrenska and Balkanska. Location on top of Terazijska Terasa provides a wonderful skyline view of Novi Beograd

Novi Beograd

Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...

, across the Sava river. Apart from other commercial buildings in the vicinity, two other hotels, "Balkan" and "Kasina", are located right across Prizrenska street and Terazije, respectively, so as the Palace Albania

Palace Albania

Palace Albanija is a highrise building in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the first skyscraper built in Southeast Europe....

 and the Terazije fountain, built in 1860, which is the administratively declared center of Belgrade.

History

The inn "Velika Srbija" was previously located on the lot where hotel is today. Hotel Moskva itself was built in 1906 and open on January 16, 1908. The importance it had even at that time can bee seen as it was personally open by the King of Serbia, Peter I Karađorđević. Hotel was built with the Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n capital, hence the name. Soon after it was opened, Olympic Committee of Serbia

Olympic Committee of Serbia

Olympic Committee of Serbia is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as at smaller events such as the Mediterranean Games.-History :...

 and Club of the journalists and writers moved in. In 1923 Postal Savings Bank took over the hotel, which in turn was taken over by the National Bank of Yugoslavia in 1938. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 moved into the hotel in 1941, transforming it into its headquarters, and renamed it to Velika Srbija, after the original inn. The headquarter had its own power generators and water sources and was one of the last buildings liberated at the end of war. During German withdrawal in 1944, original master's paintings, silverware

Silver (household)

Household silver or silverware includes dishware, cutlery and other household items made of sterling, Britannia or Sheffield plate silver. The term is often extended to items made of stainless steel...

 and gold-plated utensils which were in the hotel were looted and taken away. In the post war period, it became a favorite place of the cultural elite. Yugoslav

Yugoslavs

Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

 Nobel laureate in literature, Ivo Andrić

Ivo Andric

Ivan "Ivo" Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire...

, had his own table at the restaurant, and poet Vasko Popa

Vasko Popa

- Biography :Popa was born in the village of Grebenac , Vojvodina, Serbia. After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy. He continued his studies at the University of Bucharest and in Vienna...

 was a regular visitor.

Architecture

Hotel was designed by the architect Jovan Ilkić, in Secessionist

Vienna Secession

The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...

 style, quite daring for that time, giving Belgrade a modern face during the transformation it was undergoing at the turn of the century. The most impressive feature, even at the first glance, is the smooth and shiny façade, made of ceramic tiles. Originally, it had 36 rooms, but after many renovations, today it has 132 rooms (of those 40 duplex

Duplex

Duplex commonly means double or twofold.It may also refer to:* Duplex , a two-unit apartment building or condominium* Duplex, a common electrical receptacle with two NEMA type 5 plugs* Duplex locomotive, a type of steam locomotive...

 rooms) and 6 apartments.

Famous guests

Hotel Moskva is a four star hotel. It is the only hotel in Belgrade that has no room or an apartment number 13. It had over 36 million visitors in the past 100 years, including celebrities like Serbian Field-marshals Živojin Mišić

Živojin Mišic

Živojin Mišić OKS GCMG was a Vojvoda and the most successful Serbian commander who participated in all Serbia's wars from 1876 to 1918.-Early years:Misic's grandfather was born in Struganik near Mionica...

 and Petar Bojović

Petar Bojovic

Petar Bojović OKS GCMG was one of four Serbian vojvodas in Balkan Wars and World War I.-Early:Petar was born on July 16, 1858 in Miševići, Nova Varoš. He had distant ancestry from the Vasojevići....

 ,inventors Mikhail Kalashnikov

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Lieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov is a Russian small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.-Early life:...

 and Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

 ,sportists Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...

, Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov

Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....

 , Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis

Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were gold. His career spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and...

 , actors like Robert de Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

, Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...

 , Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...

 , Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson

John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...

 , Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas

Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...

 ,producers like Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

 , Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...

 , Miloš Forman

Miloš Forman

Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...

 politicians like Nikola Pašić

Nikola Pašic

Nikola P. Pašić was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat, the most important Serbian political figure for almost 40 years, leader of the People's Radical Party who, among other posts, was twice a mayor of Belgrade...

 , Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

, Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

, Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...

 , Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...

 , Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 and others,singers and tenors like Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti

right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...

 , Yves Montand

Yves Montand

-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...

, Ray Charles

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

, Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

 writers like Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky

Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...

 , Orson Welles

Orson Welles

George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...

 , Rebecca West

Rebecca West

Cicely Isabel Fairfield , known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public...

 , Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...

 and many others. http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Beograd/hotel-na-terazijama-promenio-devet-drzava.sr.html The pictures of the famous visitors are in a hotel hallways.

Characteristics

It is famed by its restaurant and pastry shop. Cake named after the hotel, Moskva šnit, was introduced in 1974. Originally, hotel had combined French and Serbian cuisine

Cuisine

Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...

, but today it offers a variety of different cuisines, being one of the rarest in Belgrade to serve vegetarian meals too. There are two restaurants (one with international and other with national cuisine). There is also a snack bar, a famous old fashioned café and a summer garden which is very popular not only with guests, but with Belgraders too.The stocks of hotel Moskva have been rated on the Belgrade Stock Exchange

Belgrade Stock Exchange

The Belgrade Stock Exchange is a stock exchange in Belgrade, Serbia.-History:The first ideas about establishing an institution which would control the movement of the value of money appeared in Serbia in the 1830s. The Serbian Trading Association, important for the development of the entire...

 since September 2005.

Future

Present owner (since summer of 2005) of Hotel Moskva is the Swiss company Netwest Finance. They announced a timetable by which hotel is scheduled for reconstruction after Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...

 in May 2008. The works are projected to last for a year, and the hotel is supposed to be renovated, expanded and upgraded one more category, to the five star hotel. Expansion would comprise building of a garage, congressional hall and shopping mall.

External links

• Hotel Moskva (Belgrade)
• Hotel Moskva (Belgrade)