Museum in Smederevo | Museums in Serbia

The Museum in Smederevo is dedicated to preserving the cultural and historical heritage of the Smederevo region. The Gymnasium Collection of Antiquities and the Private Collection of Milan Jovanović Stojimirović played a crucial role in establishing the museum's collection.

According to the 1941 inventory, the Gymnasium Collection of Antiquities consisted of approximately 725 items, with notable pieces including silver coins of Caesar, the city of Dubrovnik, and Alexander the Great, a Roman stone millstone, three silver Greek coins, a stone Turkish washbasin, a white marble column in the Ionic style, and more.

The private collection of politician Milan Jovanović Stojimirović comprises sculptures, paintings, graphics, icons, household items, jewelry, stone sculptures, and historical materials. The collection consists of a total of 34 items, with one of the most prominent exhibits being the stylistic writing desk of Prince Mihailo Obrenović.

The main exhibition of the Museum in Smederevo follows the earliest traces of life in this part of Serbia from prehistory to the mid-20th century, showcasing the past not only of Smederevo but also of the Smederevo Danube region. The exhibits are displayed in two museum halls and a lapidarium that houses larger stone and wooden objects.

The regional-themed display preserves the memory of the past and the material and spiritual culture of Smederevo, consisting of the following collections:

• Archaeological
• Ethnological
• Historical
• Numismatic
• Artistic
• Paleontological
• Collection of Contemporary Art

The archaeological collection presents prehistoric and ancient materials, including stone and copper axes, flint knives, jewelry, and religious objects. The historical collection consists of 1,350 items, including household objects, clothing, furniture, technological devices, utensils, agricultural tools, looms, jewelry, personal items, musical instruments, archival materials, photographs, manuscripts, charters, diplomas, and more.

The numismatic collection is the largest and contains around 11,000 metal coins and approximately 600 paper banknotes. It includes Greek, Turkish, Byzantine, and Serbian medieval coins, with the oldest being a silver Roman coin. The gold coin of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus is the most valuable item exhibited in the museum.

The artistic collection comprises collections of applied arts, fine arts, church objects, and icon collections. The fine arts section includes watercolors, paintings, sculptures, graphics, and drawings, with notable portraits of ruling families Karađorđević and Obrenović, as well as portraits of the Jovanović and Stojimirović families. The icon collection consists of works by Mount Athos, Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbian icon painters, with special mention of copies of icons by Jaroslav Kratina.

The collection of church objects includes medieval original manuscripts, censers, caskets, reliquaries, and other wooden and metal objects. The prangija from Mount Athos and the metal cross from Lipljan hold significant positions. The collection of applied arts features medieval writings and the writing desk of Prince Mihailo Obrenović as standout pieces.

The paleontological collection contains invertebrates, vertebrates, and paleozoological materials. The oldest museum artifacts are shells and snails dating back over five million years.

The artistic collection includes graphics, paintings, collages, digital photographs, video works, objects, and drawings by domestic and foreign authors. Notably, it features sculptures by Selimir Jovanović from Smederevo and drawings by Natalija Karić Slijepčević.

The Museum in Smederevo is open to visitors from Tuesday to Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm, and on weekends from 10 am to 3 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays. The ticket price is 130 dinars, while discounted categories of the population pay 100 dinars per ticket.