National Museum of Serbia

The National Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Serbia, and it was shut for fifteen years. It was founded on 10 May 1844. It moved to Republic Square in 1950 and opened there on 23 May 1952, in a building put up between 1902 and 1903 as the headquarters of a financial institution, by Andra Stevanović and Nikola Nestorović — neo-Renaissance with neo-Baroque trimmings. It closed in 2003 for reconstruction and did not reopen until 28 June 2018. Tuesday–Wednesday 10:00–18:00; Thursday 12:00–20:00; Friday 10:00–18:00; Saturday 12:00–20:00; Sunday 10:00–18:00; Monday closed.

Neolithic figures, a twelfth-century gospel book, and a floor of European painting. The Vinča culture sculptures date from the sixth and fifth millennia BC and the Lepenski Vir material from the seventh — this is the deepest prehistory on display anywhere in the region, and it is what the museum is internationally important for. The Miroslav Gospel of 1186 is on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The numismatic collection runs past 300,000 items. The museum is closed to visitors every Monday. General admission to the permanent exhibition is 300 RSD. Admission to the permanent exhibition is free every Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.

Two and a half hours, and go upward. The archaeology is on the lower floors and the painting above it, and the building is read from the bottom. The Vinča and Lepenski Vir rooms take forty minutes and are the part that cannot be seen elsewhere. The European painting takes an hour. The museum stands on Republic Square with the National Theatre beside it and Knez Mihailova running off it, so it is in the middle of everything and needs no journey. General admission to the permanent exhibition is 300 RSD. Admission to the permanent exhibition is free every Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.

Afternoon on a weekday. The museum closes one day a week and has run a free day, which is correspondingly busy. The galleries are artificially lit and the season makes no difference to what is visible. Tuesday–Wednesday 10:00–18:00; Thursday 12:00–20:00; Friday 10:00–18:00; Saturday 12:00–20:00; Sunday 10:00–18:00; Monday closed. All floors of the museum’s exhibition space are accessible to wheelchair users, visitors with pushchairs and visitors for whom stairs are a barrier. Visitors are advised to ask security staff for assistance when using the lift. It is at Trg Republike 1a, Stari Grad, 11000 Belgrade, on Republic Square.

The museum is ticketed and has run a free admission day each week. Current rates and the current arrangement are not published on the sources this page uses and are not reproduced here. Temporary exhibitions are sometimes ticketed separately from the permanent collection. General admission to the permanent exhibition is 300 RSD. General admission to the permanent exhibition is 300 RSD. Admission to the permanent exhibition is free every Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00. All floors of the museum’s exhibition space are accessible to wheelchair users, visitors with pushchairs and visitors for whom stairs are a barrier.

Republic Square, Stari Grad, at the head of Knez Mihailova. Every tram and bus route through the centre passes within a few minutes of the square, and the walk from the fortress along Knez Mihailova takes ten minutes. The museum is at Trg Republike 1a, Stari Grad. The museum is at Trg Republike 1a, Stari Grad. Trg Republike stop is served by buses 24, 26, 27, 27E, 31, 32E, 35, 37, 43, 44 and 96; trolleybuses 19, 21, 22, 22L, 28, 29 and 41; and minibuses E2 and E8. Dom Omladine/Skadarska stops are served by buses 16, 58 and 95 and minibus E6. The museum has no private car park; nearby options named by the museum are Obilićev venac Garage and Politika car park.

The museum closes one day a week and the free day is crowded. Labelling in English is inconsistent between floors; the archaeology is better served than the painting. The Miroslav Gospel usually on show is a facsimile. Large bags are not admitted and the cloakroom is small. Photography rules vary by floor and by exhibition and are posted. All floors of the museum’s exhibition space are accessible to wheelchair users, visitors with pushchairs and visitors for whom stairs are a barrier. It is at Trg Republike 1a, Stari Grad, 11000 Belgrade, on Republic Square.

The Vinča figures are small, dark and behind glass, and they need a longer lens and an angle off the reflections; they are the objects worth the effort. The staircase and the neo-Renaissance halls of the 1903 building are the architectural photographs, and they are better than anything on the walls of the upper floors. The European paintings are evenly lit and easy to photograph, which is not the same as being worth photographing. Yes. Yes. Photography is permitted without flash. Yes. The permanent exhibition is free every Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.