ŠAPIĆ, IT’S NOT THE SCALES, IT’S TERAZIJE! Mayor Installs a Sculpture of a Weighing Scale, Even Though This Part of Belgrade Was Named After Something Entirely Different!

At the end of June 2026, Terazije received the long-announced surprise from Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić overnight—a monument in the shape of a weighing scale, a word that is synonymous with the Serbian term terazije.

However, the famous Belgrade square and street were not named after a weighing device.

The name dates back to the period of Ottoman rule, when, in the 17th century, the city’s largest water reservoir with a tower stood on the site of what is now the Hotel Moskva.

“Such reservoirs were called terazije,” according to the official website of the City of Belgrade.

The new monument at the roundabout is proof that Belgrade is being run by incompetent people who apparently have no one to advise them, says archaeologist Rade Milić from the Center for Urban Development.

“Someone who presents himself as holding a doctoral degree should know that Terazije was not named after scales or market balances, but after a specific type of Oriental architectural structure that served a practical purpose, much like modern water towers,” Milić said.