Archaeologists "occupy" central Belgrade: They are digging in Vlajkoviceva, garage is about to be built there

"We expect and it is known for sure that there are remains of the ancient Singidunum here"

At the location where an underground garage will be built in Vlajkoviceva Street in Belgrade, archaeological exploration has begun that precedes the construction works, Radoslav Marjanovic, president of the Stari Grad City Municipality, told Tanjug today.

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He said that the archaeological exploration, which began in early March, will last from 60 to 90 days, which will be followed by works to build the underground garage, which will last 15 months.

"Here we will probably have the opportunity to find some things that are valuable and which will later be exhibited in the Museum of the City of Belgrade so that all citizens of Belgrade can see them, not only during archaeological exploration, but also later," said Marjanovic.

Marjanovic said that the building permit for the construction of the underground garage has been officially issued by the City Municipality of Stari Grad, that it will have 284 parking spaces, an access level and three underground levels.

"A Chinese company will carry out these works, and after the completion of the underground garage, excavation and everything that awaits us in the coming period, construction of a new park in Vlajkoviceva Street is also an important thing, there will be completely new furniture, paths, and trees will be planted," said Marjanovic.

"This is an important project for the centeral parts of the city, given that the lack of parking is the biggest problem facing citizens in our municipality," said Marjanovic.

The director of the Museum of the City of Belgrade, Jelena Medakovic, told Tanjug that work has now begun on breaking the concrete and removing the first layers of soil.

"It goes without saying that as soon as possible we will remove everything that hinders our colleagues and then the manual excavation will start, so we hope to find important items," she said.

"We expect, and it is known for certain, that there are remains of the ancient Singidunum (Belgrade's original name) here. What the Museum has already explored and what is in the museum's collections comes from a site that's located a little lower, in Kosovska Street. We expect (to find) a Roman necropolis and that this series of graves will continue the way we have determined they would through geodetic imaging," said Medakovic.

(Telegraf.rs)