MemorialSS 0116

Memorial Ossuary of the Defenders of Belgrade 1914–1918

Belgrade, New Cemetery · Serbia

A memorial in Belgrade’s New Cemetery dedicated to the defenders of Belgrade, the first capital to be bombarded and the longest defended in the First World War. The crypt holds the bones of 3,529 known and 1,074 unknown soldiers, brought from the military plots of the New Cemetery, from the Danube quay and from smaller cemeteries around Belgrade, as well as the remains of soldiers of the Balkan Wars. The complex was built in 1927–1931 with voluntary contributions from the Association of Reserve Officers and Warriors, to the design of the Russian émigré Roman Verkhovskoy; its pedestal bears the old coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbia. It is protected as part of the New Cemetery, a cultural monument of great importance.