House of Flowers (mausoleum)

House of Flowers (Serbian: Кућа цвећа, romanized: Kuća cveća; Croatian: Kuća cvijeća; Macedonian: Куќа на цвеќето, romanized: Kukja na cvekjeto; Slovene: Hiša cvetja) is the resting place of Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), the President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and his third wife Jovanka Broz (1924–2013). It is located on the grounds of the Museum of Yugoslav History in Dedinje, Belgrade, Serbia.

House of Flowers
Кућа цвећа
Kuća cveća
House of Flowers interior
Location within Belgrade
General information
TypeMausoleum
Museum
Location Belgrade, Serbia
Coordinates44°47′12.21″N 20°27′6.1″E
Completed1975
Technical details
Floor area902 m2 (9,710 sq ft)
Design and construction
ArchitectStjepan Kralj

Name

The name House of Flowers comes from the fact that many flowers surrounded the tomb until it was closed to the public after the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Today there are only white rocks where the flowers used to be. It was internally called "flower shop" during Tito's life when it served as his auxiliary office with covered garden.

Josip Broz Tito's tomb inside the mausoleum.

History

"House of Flowers" was built in 1975, on the basis of a project by architect Stjepan Kralj. It was built as a winter garden with areas for work and rest of Josip Broz with an area of 902 square metres (9,710 sq ft) near the residence where he lived. It consists of three parts: the central one - a flower garden, and two parallel wide corridors on the sides. On the opposite side of the entrance is an uncovered terrace with a view of Belgrade. In the central part, following his personal wish, Tito was buried in May 1980.

Permanent exhibition in "House of Flowers" consist of local, republic, and federal Relays of Youth from the period after 1957, from when 25 May was celebrated as Youth Day. Beside that, written messages that Tito received with relays, photographs of people carrying and exchanged batons, tickets and programs of rallies, and other related material are displayed in the museum.[1]

For almost a decade after the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the entire complex (the tomb and the memorial museum) was closed to the public and the military guards were permanently removed. However, today the site is open again to tourists and to people who wish to pay their respects. Many guests, from all over the former Yugoslavia, visit the place, especially on May 25 (Tito's official birth date) - the former Youth Day under Socialism. The memorial was reportedly visited by more than eleven thousand people in 2004, and since 1982, more than 17,000,000 people.[2][3]

References
  1. Kuća cveća Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine, at Noć Muzeja. (in Serbian)
  2. Titovi poklonici opsedaju Kuću cveća (in Serbian)
  3. Kuću cveća 2004. posetilo 11.000 ljudi (in Serbian)

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