Night of the Museums Kicks Off Across Serbia

Those who have wondered about the secrets of the Serbian royal family Karadjordjevic or what is inside the Palace of Serbia, a monumental building near Usce, will have the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity at the Night of the Museums, which begins at 6pm. 

Once the sound of fanfare echoes from the Military Museum, museums all across the country will open their doors and show exhibits that can’t be seen during regular opening hours. 

The 8th annual Night of the Museums will be marked in 60 towns across Serbia and at 65 locations in Belgrade.

One of the most exclusive locations at this year’s event is the Palace of Serbia. This building has six salons named after the former Yugoslav republics and about 1000 rooms that are now the offices of Serbian ministries. 

While those who wish to visit the Palace normally must wait in long lines to enter, on Saturday night its doors will be wide open for visitors of the Museum Night. 

Along with the Palace, Belgraders will have the chance to look at the interactive exhibition Masquerade at the Ethnographic Museum. At the Military Museum, visitors can see how a Roman soldier looked and how he fought, while in front of the museum there will be a medieval blacksmith's shop where Belgraders will be able to make their own swords. 

Archives of Yugoslavia will reveal for the first time private letters of King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and Queen Marija as part of an exhibition about the Serbian royal family. 

Novi Sad, meanwhile, has prepared an exhibition on advertisements seen between the two world wars, while in Subotica visitors will have the chance to see the history of a bicycle, which is one of the city’s trademarks, given that most people get around the town by bike rather than by car. 

The symbol of this year's Night of Museums is a black cat, which officials say aims to show that the museums are not dusty and forgotten, but that they represent eternal artistic inspiration.

Tickets costs 350 dinars (3.5 euros) and can be bought at all the museums. 

The first Night of the Museums was held in Berlin in 1997 and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, involving more than 120 cities.