Belgrade, Central Serbia, Serbia
Senjak is a Belgrade settlement with a large number of magnificent villas. Some of the seriously rich Serbs live in them, and apart from the rich, those villas are also the representative offices of major global companies or they are the diplomatic missions and embassies of some major world countries.
Due to the seriously influential, wealthy and important tenants of Senjak, there are police patrols, guard houses and cameras to monitor passers-by at every turn.
That is one of the main reasons why this story of mine will be without pictures of the interior of one of those villas (I couldn't risk arrest for trespassing...).
A villa that has long been abandoned and ruined...
The villa at Andre Nikolića 5.
The villa where Aleksandar Leka Rankovic lived until his death.
These days, the TV series "Drug Marko", which talks about the life of Leka Ranković, started showing, so the villa where he lived, once again became the target of interest of TV stations and journalists.
Who was Leka?
Yugoslav communist, closest associate and godfather of Josip Broz Tito, founder of OZNA (later called UDBA), minister of internal affairs of Yugoslavia, deputy president... Participant of World War II and decorated war hero, after retiring from all party positions, was placed in a villa in Andre Nikolić 5.
The aforementioned villa was built in the thirties of the last century and was "nationalized" in 1963 (a term in Yugoslavia after the end of World War II, which denotes the confiscation of property from rich citizens, capitalists in order to balance the wealth of society... and in fact, it meant, take from the rich, give to the state on use and acquisition...).
In order for Leka to be monitored and guarded day and night, a police station was built opposite the villa, which is still in operation today, unlike the villa where Leka lived until his death in 1983.
After his death, his family lived in the villa until 1999, and until 2012 it was used by the Olympic Association of Serbia.
After 2012, the villa became the property of the city of Belgrade and has been waiting for a new owner ever since. It was offered at several auctions, but the dark history of the villa and its famous tenant, as well as the fact of serious restrictions for construction at that location, is an obstacle to its sale.
Until almost... At the last auction, the current Minister of Finance of Serbia, Sinisa Mali, becomes the owner. Most likely through bribery and corruption, because how can one government minister allocate €3 million for such a purchase. This is still information that has not been released to the public, so it can be said that the Urbex community on Hive has exclusive news.
I heard this from a passer-by, a resident of the neighboring villa.
That is another reason why it is extremely dangerous to try to enter the villa now, it has a seriously guarded owner, a statesman, so it is not advisable to take any risks...
In the news, I read stories about the infamous villa, the torture of political dissidents in it, the keeping of some OZNA secrets... However, I think that these are inflated journalistic stories.
Let me remind you, Leka was placed in the villa in 1966, after retiring from all the positions he held.
To enjoy the villa for the rest of his life, not to torture and kill dissenters in it.
Now, in the yard in front of the villa, you can see only the concrete pillars on which there used to be a rose garden.
And behind the villa, there is a swimming pool, overgrown with weeds and grass, unrecognizable...
The front door was broken, windows were broken, all property was destroyed and stolen. The walls are covered with graffiti and signatures of hooligans and vagrants...
The facade is overgrown with creepers, the roof has collapsed...
A real gem #urbex with a serious story about a famous tenant...
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