Church of Saint Mark, Belgrade

Continuity of Christian worship at the site of today's Belgrade park Tašmajdan exists since the
19th century, when nearly the same place, just south of the present building, stood the original
church of St. Mark until the beginning of World War II. Due to the German bombing in 1941, the
temple was set on fire and so damaged that its remains were removed completely in 1942.

The new church of St. Mark was built according to the project of architect brothers Krstic,
between 1931 and 1940. The outbreak of the Second World War disrupted the full completion of
the temple. The temple is a monumental building built in the spirit of Serbian medieval
architecture, similar to the endowment of King Milutin, Gracanica monastery in Kosovo. The
exterior walls have two colors, made of natural materials in Serbian- Byzantine style. This
temple is a good example of how old spiritual role models shaped using new building materials
may seem splendid in an urban environment without losing any of its authenticity and simplicity.
The bell tower of the temple is a part of its west wing.

St. Mark's church is 62 meters long and 45 meters wide, the height of the main dome including
the cross is 60 meters. The useful inner surface of the temple is about 1150 m², and it can
accommodate over 2,000 worshipers. The choir gallery on the west side receives more than
150 singers.

On the right side, when entering the temple, by the south wall, is a marble tomb built for Serbian
Emporer Dushan, in which his bones are buried. His remains brought from his endowment, the
Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren, a monastery that has been in ruins for
centuries. On the contrary, the north side includes the tomb of Patriarch German. The remains
of King Aleksandar Obrenovic, Queen Draga and Prince Milan Obrenovic are stored in the
temple’s crypt.

Emporer Dušan (1308-1355)

The first Serbian king and legislator.

Stefan Uroš IV Dušan Nemanjić was the son of King Stefan of Decani and father of Emperor
Uroš the Weak, the last ruler of the dynasty Nemanjića. Also known as Dušan the Mighty, he
ousted from power his father with the help of nobles dissatisfied with the policy towards Bulgaria
and Byzantium, after the Battle of Velbazd. Dusan significantly expanded the borders of the
Serbian state to the south, taking advantage of the internal turmoil in the Byzantine Empire. The
empire stretched from the Danube to the north of the city of Corinth in the south and the Adriatic
Sea in the west to the Aegean Sea in the east. He fought with the Hungarian king Charles
Robert and the Bosnian ban Stjepan II Kotromanić. After the conquest of vast Byzantine
territory, Stefan Dusan in1345 proclaimed himself Emperor of Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians, and
the Serbian church was elevated from the rank of Archdiocese to Patriarchy. Dusan expressed
a willingness to recognize the Pope as the supreme head of the Christian Church, but
unification was ceased by an Hungarian attack in 1354. The attack made him reconsider a
union with the Catholic Church. He is also known for preparing Dušan's Code, the most
important Serbian medieval legislation. He graduated from the Decani monastery, the
endowment of his father, and its most important foundation was the monastery of the Holy
Archangels near Prizren, where he was buried. Stefan Dušan was the only ruler of the dynasty
Nemanjića who was not declared a saint after his death.