Turin 1911: The World's Fair in Italy

Object/Work Type
National Pavilions

Title Text
Pavilion of Serbia

Alternate Title Text
Padiglione della Serbia

Creation Date
1910-1911

Styles/Periods Description

National style (Giornale Ufficiale, p. 299), Serbian-Byzantine style (Guida rimborsabile tricolore, p.154; Guida ufficiale, p.208)

Styles/Periods Indexing Terms
National Style

Dimension Description

600 square meters of covered area, 23 meters height ca (Giornale Ufficiale, p. 299)

Materials/Techniques Description

Green cupolas but unknow material (Guida pratica, p.67; Torino Esposizione 1911, p.41). Arabesques in stucco (Guida rimborsabile tricolore, p.154)

Materials/Techniques Name
Stucco (Plaster)

Material Color
Green (Color)

Descriptive Note Text

The pavilion was in the Serbian-Byzantine style and was constructed on the designs of Professor Tanasevic (or Tanasevitch) of the University of Belgrade (Le Esposizioni di Roma e di Torino del 1911, p.86, 167; Guida rimborsabile tricolore, p.154; Torino Esposizione 1911, p.41; Giornale Ufficiale, p. 299, ). The plan is arranged around a single nave. The arcade of the building was designed around elongated arches, shaped by arabesques and friezes, painted and in stucco. These arches were crossed, horizontally, by alternating polychrome strips. Five little cupolas, greenish in color, with the central one being the tallest and most slender, decorated the building – which was perceived as original and charming in its distinctly exotic appearance by contemporary fairgoers. In front of the building was an elegant terrace from which one could enjoy the magnificent panorama.

Porfessor Michel Petrovich decided to exhibits instruments for its favorite sport, the fishing (Le Esposizioni di Roma e di Torino del 1911, p.167).

The Pavilion was inaugurated on the 18th of May (Le Esposizioni di Roma e di Torino del 1911, p.167).

From the terrace of the pavilion, visitors could see the Valetino Park on the left bank of the River Po, with the elegant Pavilion of England and the Medieval Castle, the Pavilion of Festivals and in distance the cupolas of the Pavilion of the City of Turin and the Arts Applied to Industry.

Erasmo Besotti, conseul of Serbia in Turin was appointed Commissioner for the Serbian Pavilion on the 28th April 1910 (Giornale Ufficiale, p. I-6-II). The Serbian committee was composed by: Milutin Savitch, Vladimiro Tsonich, and Nicola Christitch (Giornale Ufficiale, p. I-6-II).

Regarding the construction timing, on the 31st of March 1911 the Giornale Ufficiale (p. 276) reports that the furnishment is completed in the Pavilion and products start to appear on display.

The Pavilion costed around 40000 Italian lira (Giornale Ufficiale, p. 299).

The Le Esposizioni di Roma e di Torino del 1911 (p.192) reports that Serbia published a dossier as catalogue of the objects on dispaly during the 1911 Turin World's Fair and a book about Serbian history and culture.

Code in the 1911 Map
SIM 84

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