# Cemeteries of Belgrade's New Cemetery
The New Cemetery (Novo groblje) is a major Belgrade burial ground, opened in 1886 on the initiative of Dr Vladan Đorđević (Владан Ђорђевић), a Serbian surgeon, writer and politician, and one of the first architecturally and systematically planned cemeteries in Serbia.[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) It is registered in Serbia's Central Register of Cultural Heritage as heritage of great importance, a status it has held since 1983.[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) The cemetery is also a member of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe (ASCE) since 2004 and part of the European Cemeteries Route since 2010.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886, on the initiative of Dr Vladan Đorđević[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) |
| Original area | 2.21 hectares, regulated from the Grobljanska Street entrance to the side entrance from Sveti Nikola Street[3](https://beogradskagroblja.com/pdf_vodic/img/web_EN_vodic.pdf) |
| Present area | Almost 31 hectares[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html) |
| Burials | More than 350,000 per ASCE; more than 700,000 per the European Cemeteries Route (unresolved)[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html) • [1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) |
| Funerary art | About 1,500 sculptures by more than 130 sculptors; 37 or 38 family chapels (sources differ)[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) • [4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html) |
| Protection | Registered 1983 as Cultural Heritage of Great Importance[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) |
| Alley of Meritorious Citizens | Built 1965, about 4,200 m², more than 800 burials, 19 places left as of April 2024[5](https://www.vreme.com/en/drustvo/ko-se-sahranjuje-u-aleji-zasluznih-gradjanja/) |
## Founding and development
The cemetery opened in 1886, following Đorđević's initiative to give Belgrade a planned burial ground.[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) The operator's official guide records that the New Cemetery originally occupied a carefully regulated area of 2.21 hectares, stretching from the entrance in Grobljanska Street (present-day Ruzveltova Street) to the side entrance from Sveti Nikola Street, near today's St. Nicholas' Church.[3](https://beogradskagroblja.com/pdf_vodic/img/web_EN_vodic.pdf)
From the modest 2 hectares of its early years, the cemetery now covers almost 31 hectares.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html) Its present form took shape in the interwar period, when the funeral chapels, a crematorium, and an administrative building were erected, all in the Neo-Byzantine style.[6](https://beotura.rs/en/new-cemetery/)
## Layout and funerary architecture
The initial layout followed the typical 19th-century cemetery design, characterized by geometrically arranged alleys.[6](https://beotura.rs/en/new-cemetery/) The grounds show significant Neo-Byzantine and Serbo-Byzantine stylistic influence throughout.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html)
Several dated structures anchor the architectural history. The church of St. Nicholas was built in 1893 to a design by architect Svetozar Ivačković, after which numerous further funerary structures were raised on the site.[7](http://spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs/spomenik.php?id=859) St. George Chapel was designed by architect Milan Antonović at the request of the wine merchant Mihajlo Jovićić, and built in the neo-Byzantine style.[6](https://beotura.rs/en/new-cemetery/) Construction of the tombs, the arcades intended for prominent persons from interwar Serbian public life, began in 1926.[6](https://beotura.rs/en/new-cemetery/)
According to art historian Jovan Sekulić writing in [National Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-review), the cemetery acquired its present authentic appearance after the erection of the fence around the French Military Cemetery (1931/32), the Funeral Chapel (1935), and the Chapel for the funerals of [Ashkenazi Jews](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashkenazi-jews) (1937), all in the spirit of medieval and Byzantine heritage.[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html)
The funerary art is a defining feature. The cemetery holds more than 1,500 sculptural monuments in stone and bronze, the work of more than 130 artists, which Sekulić describes as a true "open museum".[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html) A feature he identifies as differentiating the New Cemetery from other culturally significant European cemeteries is its handmade cast-iron fences, mostly created between the two wars.[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html)
## Notable burials and the Alley of Meritorious Citizens
The cemetery holds statesmen ([Ilija Garašanin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ilija-garasanin), Nikola Pašić, Jevrem Grujić), scientists ([Jovan Cvijić](https://www.edgepedia.org/jovan-cvijic), Milutin Milanković), writers ([Đura Jakšić](https://www.edgepedia.org/ura-jaksic), Branislav Nušić, Ivo Andrić) and artists (Nadežda Petrović, Paja Jovanović).[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html)
A special plot, the Alley of Meritorious Citizens (Aleja zaslužnih građana), was designed by architect Svetislav Ličina and built in 1965 as a special architectural unit where more than 800 persons of special importance for Serbian and Yugoslav history and culture have been buried.[5](https://www.vreme.com/en/drustvo/ko-se-sahranjuje-u-aleji-zasluznih-gradjanja/) It covers about 4,200 square meters and has been expanded several times, most recently in 2011.[5](https://www.vreme.com/en/drustvo/ko-se-sahranjuje-u-aleji-zasluznih-gradjanja/) Burial there is governed by the city Decision on the management of cemeteries and restricted to those distinguished in their field.[5](https://www.vreme.com/en/drustvo/ko-se-sahranjuje-u-aleji-zasluznih-gradjanja/)
## Religious and community sections
Two Jewish cemeteries lie within the wider grounds. Its dedicated funeral chapel of 1937 is one of the structures that fixed the cemetery's present appearance.[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html) The grounds also contain six foreign military cemeteries from the First and Second World Wars.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html)
## By the numbers
The figures reported by the main sources do not fully agree, and the differences are material.
- Area: 2.21 hectares at founding, regulated from the Grobljanska Street entrance; almost 31 hectares today.[3](https://beogradskagroblja.com/pdf_vodic/img/web_EN_vodic.pdf) • [2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html)
- Total buried: ASCE's profile states more than 350,000 people; the European Cemeteries Route and the operator's audio guide state more than 700,000. Both figures remain in circulation and the discrepancy is unresolved.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html) • [1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) • [8](https://app.ar-tour.com/guides/the-new-cemetery-in-belgrade-belgrade-serbia/about-the-cemetery.aspx)
- Graves: around 70,000 burial places per ASCE versus 48,000 graves per the European Cemeteries Route; again unresolved.[2](https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html) • [1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250)
- Family chapels: 37 per the European Cemeteries Route and ASCE-aligned records; 38 private chapels per National Review.[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250) • [4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html)
- [Sculpture](https://www.edgepedia.org/sculpture): about 1,500 works by more than 130 sculptors, a figure on which the sources agree.[1](https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250)
- Operations: the public company Pogrebne usluge performs more than 10,000 funerals and about 2,500 cremations each year across Belgrade's cemeteries.[4](https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html)
## References
1. About the cemetery, European Cemeteries Route (ASCE), https://cemeteriesroute.eu/poi-details.aspx?p=5864&t=1250
2. The New Cemetery of Belgrade, Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe, https://www.significantcemeteries.org/2011/11/new-cemetery-of-belgrade-belgrade.html
3. The New Cemetery in Belgrade, Official Guide, JP Pogrebne usluge Beograd, https://beogradskagroblja.com/pdf_vodic/img/web_EN_vodic.pdf
4. Novo groblje, National Review (Jovan Sekulić), https://www.nacionalnarevija.com/en/tekstovi/Br%2029/08%20Podsecanje%20-%20Novo%20groblje.html
5. Who is buried in the Alley of Meritorious Citizens, Vreme, https://www.vreme.com/en/drustvo/ko-se-sahranjuje-u-aleji-zasluznih-gradjanja/
6. Novo groblje, beotura, https://beotura.rs/en/new-cemetery/
7. Novo groblje, Spomenici kulture u Srbiji (Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments), http://spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs/spomenik.php?id=859
8. The New Cemetery in Belgrade, official audio-guide app, https://app.ar-tour.com/guides/the-new-cemetery-in-belgrade-belgrade-serbia/about-the-cemetery.aspx
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Parks, protected areas, and geographic heritage sites › Geographic heritage districts and memorial sites › Cemeteries and burial grounds › Cemeteries in Europe › Cemeteries in the Balkans and southeastern Europe*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 18, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license