PARC JOVAN-DUČIĆ

This 2.8-hectare wooded park (Gradski Park Jovan Dučić/Градски Парк Јован Дучић) lies to the south of Plane Square. It was created by the Austro-Hungarian authorities in 1890. Since 1997, it has been dedicated to Jovan Dučić, a Serbian poet and diplomat born in Trebinje in 1871. He died in exile in the USA in 1943, but bequeathed his estate to his hometown. Since 1997, a bronze statue of him has adorned the northern entrance to the park, near Place des Platanes and the Catholic Cathedral (1884). A little further on is the statue of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813-1851), a poet and philosopher who was Prince-Bishop of Montenegro. This work was financed by Jovan Dučić and realized in 1934 by the Serbian-Croatian sculptor Toma Rosandić (1878-1958). Among the other statues, a fountain features a representation of Plakir, a kind of Cupid invented by the great Croatian playwright Marin Držić (1508-1567). Originally from Dubrovnik, this "Shakespeare of the Balkans" had a considerable influence on South Slavic literature. In the southern part of the park, "Fighters' Square" is dominated by the Anti-Fascist Monument (1953) by the great Serbian-Jewish sculptor Nandor Glid. There's also the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral (1908), a recent statue of Serbian Patriarch Pavle (1914-2009) and the Trebinje Cultural Center. This 1960s complex houses a cinema (films in English), an art gallery (temporary exhibitions) and a café-restaurant with terrace (daily 7am-11pm).