Monument to the Unknown Hero (World War I & Balkan Wars memorial) at Mount Avala near Belgrade, Serbia
The Monument to the Unknown Hero is a World War I memorial located atop Mount Avala, south-east of Belgrade, Serbia, and designed by the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. The memorial was built in 1934-1938 on the place where an unknown Serbian World War I soldier was buried. It is similar to many other tombs of the unknown soldier built by the allies after the war. The Zrnov fortress was previously located on the same place. The construction of this monument was ordered by King Alexander I of Yugoslavia to commemorate the victims of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) and the World War I (1914-1918). The monument was designed by Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, and the main engineer was Stevan Zivanovic. Members of the Yugoslav Royal Army and Navy took part in processing and mounting the blocks. The monument is in the form of a sarcophagus made of black granite from Jablanica. The sarcophagus in surrounded by caryatids representing all the peoples of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. They represent Bosnian, Montenegrin, Dalmatian, Croatian, Slovenian, Vojvodina’s, Serbian and Old Serbian women. The top of the sarcophagus is marked with an inscription reading "Alexander I King of Yugoslavia to the Unknown Hero". The monument is meters (48 ft) high, and 36 meters (118 ft) in length, while the stairs from the approaching side are 93 meters (305 ft) long. The tomb with the remains of the unknown hero is located in the crypt (underground room) in the base of the monument. The tomb is marked only by the date "1912-1918", the duration of the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Monument to the Unknown Hero, Mount Avala, Belgrade, Serbia, Balkan, Southern Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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