Photoceramics: An Unsuspected European Cultural Heritage

Piazzale Cimitero Monumentale, Milano, MI, Italia  24/11/2018, Milan

Participation at the Adriatic Cemetery Days 2018

Conference in Zadar, Croatia
On Monday and Tuesday, 19 and 20 November 2018, the third conference Adriatic Cemetery Days took place in Zadar, Croatia.

WWI Armistice Centenary Walks through the New Cemetery in Belgrade (Serbia)

In a view of the WWI Armistice Centenary, two more guided strolls devoted to this important historical event were organized at the New Cemetery of Belgrade on November 4 and November 18, 2018.






Legendary WWI Military Commanders and Heroes Buried at the New Cemetery 
This guided stroll through the New Cemetery was devoted to immense courage, sacrifice and patriotism of the Great War participants. In the course of this inspiring stroll, our guide revived the memories of Legendary Serbian WWI Military Commanders, famous filed marshals, generals and majors, but also all those known and unknown man and women who significantly contributed to the Serbian WWI effort. One of the focuses of this stroll was the Memorial Ossuary of Belgrade Defenders (1914-1918), where the visitors were able to enter the crypt beneath the monument. This informative tour revealed many aspects of the Great War: locations, strategies, battles, and events, in addition to many intimate stories of hopes, fears, anger, pain, suffering, patriotism and love. 

Serbian She-Soldiers and Volunteer Nurses in the Great War 

Our visitors who showed up in significant number, disregarding the cold weather and the first snow, were able to hear emotional stories on the women in Great War.  The stories were related to the courageous she-soldiers who defended their country and were widely admired by the international community and press, but also the women who interrupted their successful careers or studies abroad to act as volunteer nurses or humanitarian workers, tending to the wounded at the battle fields or tirelessly travelling through the world, gathering aid in order to help their compatriots in these times of temptation.
We would like to share a story about a local lady, almost forgotten today, who played a significant role during the first days of the Great War in Belgrade. In spite of being a middle-class home maker, Vuka Popadic was considered one of the bravest citizens of Belgrade at the time. Upon first siege of Belgrade in the Great War, she started to gather around the hungry and frightened citizens of Belgrade. At her flat in down-town Belgrade, which was the center of military action, she organized an improvised field hospital, providing the first aid to the wounded soldiers and civilians and helping them to survive to the nearest hospitals. She even managed to capture a group of fifteen Austro-Hungarian soldiers, whom she later surrendered to the Serbian Army, but only after sheltered them in the safety of her home and treating them with fruit preserve (loc.: “slatko”) and fresh water in accordance with the local customs. 

Exposition "Memorabilijar" on the city cemetery “Pri Sv. Duhu” in Koprivnica


Municipal Utility Company Komunalac LLC Koprivnica, as a member of the ASCE Association, regarding All Saints' Day, on 1st November, opened an exposition "Memorabilijar" by Gordana Špoljar Andrašić on October 26 in the area of an old morgue.

Remembrance Day – WWI Armistice Centenary (New Cemetery in Belgrade, Serbia)


Since the New Cemetery of Belgrade is one of the rare, urban civillian cemeteries comprising five WWI Military Cemeteries, each November is marked with the series of commemorations devoted to all victims of the Great War.






On the occasion of the Italian Armed Forces Day and WWI Armistice Centenary, on November 2, 2018, the commemoration was held at the Italian Military Cemetery within the New Cemetery of Belgrade, for the purpose of remembering the Italian soldiers killed in the Great War, as well as all the casualties of the Great War, other armed conflicts and peace-keeping missions.
Another   commemoration devoted to the victims of the Great War was held on November 10, 2018, at the Austro-Hungarian Military Cemetery. The ceremony of laying wreaths and paying respects was attended by high ranking state and church officials from Austria, Hungary and Serbia, representatives of the embassies and defense attaché offices accredited in Belgrade. 

This series of commemorations was finalized by the Central State Ceremony, at the very day of the WWI Armistice Centenary, November 11, 2018 at 10:00 hrs. The Central Ceremony commenced at the Commonwealth War Cemetery, followed by the central event in front of the Memorial Ossuary of Belgrade Defenders. The ceremony continued by laying wreaths at the WWI Russian Ossuary, whereas the finale was marked by commemoration at the WWI French Military Cemetery. 


The Remembrance Day is commemorated each year on November 11, as a token of remembrance of the WWI armistice signed in the railway wagon in Compiegne (France) and the hostilities formally ended on November 11, 1918 - "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" In accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, each country was obligated to maintain the war cemeteries at their territories, disregarding the fate or nationality. Based on the decision of the SHS Kingdom from 1919, the Municipality of Belgrade secured the area for French, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian military cemeteries. The cemeteries were constructed by their respective countries in the period between 1928 and 1934. From their establishing until this day, the foreign military cemeteries are treated as separate, ex-territorial units, within the New Cemetery of Belgrade.


Like the Remembrance Poppy – in Serbia the same symbolism is assigned to the Natealie’s Ramonda (lat. “Ramonda nathaliae”) – an endemic flower species, growing in Eastern parts of Serbia and Macedonia. The flower is considered a symbol of the Serbian Army's struggle during WWI, due to its sturdiness (i.e. it can survive temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius) and potential to recuperate after the most severe weather conditions. The plant was first described in 1884 by the local scientists and named after the Queen Natalija Obrenović of Serbia. 


Remembrance Day at Commonwealth War Cemetery