Who we are

Historical heritage

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The Palace of Science is located in one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Belgrade, built in 1924.

Located at the intersection of Kralja Milana and Kneza Miloša streets, the former Adriatic-Danube Bank building has been attracting attention for a hundred years with its magnificent dome, elegant facade and impressive sculptures from Greek mythology that adorn its interior and exterior.

Its opulence was once a symbol of financial power, and this monumental building has now been given a new life.

As the Palace of Science,
this building became
an ultimate space for
scientific and research
activities, but also a place where everyone with
a curious spirit can be taken with science and get to know the discoveries that shape
our daily lives.

How to modernise and still preserve a hundred-year-old gem?

The Palace of Science building has undergone intensive renovation of the facade and reconstruction of the interior to become a home for contemporary science and technology, and to be able to offer visitors a unique experience, in the completely revived environment of this pearl of Belgrade architecture. The cultural, historical and artistic value of the more than a century-old building was preserved in cooperation with the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, whose expert team supervised the restoration and conservation works.

Building history

1922 — 1924

The building was constructed according to the project of the German architect August Reinfels in the harmonious and subtle Central European academicism style.

1924 — 1946

The building served as the head office of the Adriatic-Danube Bank, the largest bank in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

1946 — 2023

After the closure of the Adriatic-Danube Bank, the premises were occupied by other banking institutions.

AIK banka AIK banka AIK banka

2024

One hundred years after its construction, the building opened its doors as the Palace of Science in which knowledge, curiosity and pushing boundaries reign.

  • 1922 1924
  • 1924 1946
  • 1946 2023
  • 2024

About the architecture of the building

The opulent facade of this gem of our urban architecture has been attracting attention for decades with numerous motifs from ancient Greek culture and architecture: Ionian columns and sculpture of deities, mermaids, water horses and fish, as well as the building crown in the form of monumental figures of four pairs of supreme sea gods. The warm, yellow-brown tone of the facades originates from a high-quality natural material, a stone called Kruševac sandstone.

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The influence of classical elements is also visible in the massive dome, the inspiration for the Palace of Science’s visual identity. This magnificent stained glass dome towers over the building’s impressive central hall and includes rings representing Apollo, while the hall itself houses a sculpture of Aphrodite, a work of Petar Palavičini, which became an interactive part of our exhibition.

Gratitude

We extend our special gratitude to the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, which provided us with photographs from its archive, as well as to the author of the photographs used on this page, Uglješa Dapčević.