Page 76 - Novopazarski Zbornik 36

78 Исидора Станковић, Милена Гњатовић НЗ 36/2013

Isidora Stanković
Milena Gnjatović

MEETING OF CULTURES
IN THE KING’ S PETER STREET IN BELGRADE

The main field of interest in this paper is the examination of the different
layers of cultural and historical heritage that one street in Belgrade, The King
Peter’s Street itself represents. However, this street is not the only example of the
“cultural encounters” in Belgrade or at the Balkans. Due to its position and histo-
ry, the whole Balkans could be interpreted in its multilayeredness. Throughout the
paper different monuments and buildings which exist today in this street, are exa-
mined. On the other hand, the main idea is to represent the totality of the heritage
that this street embraces, because, due to the needs of different interest groups and
different politics of memory and remembrance, some of the parts of the past are
neglected. First part of this paper examines the ideas of the cultural encounters
in anthropology, from the theories of the evolutionary anthropology, to the ideas
of the cultural relativism that enables the possibility to interpret a culture as a
phenomenon related to some group that lived at some place in a certain historical
period. The second part of this paper is pointed towards the examination of the
preserved parts of the cultural heritage, but their historical context as well. Furt-
hermore, different layers of the cultural encounters are being examined — in the
realm of three major religions that live in Belgrade, architectural styles, national
ideas and aspects of the monopolization of the memory. Finally, the importance of
the preservation of the past and heritage is once again emphasized, because all of
these layers represent the important parts of the identity of the people that live in
a micro plan as The King Peter’s Street is, but also the people of Belgrade, Serbia,
and at the whole Balkans.