Monument to the Unknown Hero, Avala

The Monument to the Unknown Hero stands on the summit of Avala mountain, south of Belgrade, in the Voždovac municipality of Serbia. It honours the unknown Serbian soldiers who died in the First World War, during which Serbia lost a very large proportion of its population and army, including the retreat across Albania in 1915. The monument was built between 1934 and 1938 in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and was designed by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, one of the best-known Yugoslav artists of the 20th century. It replaced an earlier memorial at the same site and sits at the location of the medieval Žrnov fortress, which was dismantled by the Ottomans in the 15th century.

The monument is a mausoleum-like structure of dark granite, approached by a long flight of steps lined with rows of stone. At the entrance stand eight caryatids in the form of Serbian women in regional costume, and the interior contains a crypt with the symbolic tomb of the unknown soldier. The design draws on both monumental classical forms and Serbian folk and Byzantine motifs, and the black granite gives the structure a solemn character. Meštrović's work here combines national symbolism with a restrained, severe style, and it is regarded as one of the main memorials of interwar Yugoslavia.

The monument is an open-air memorial rather than a museum, so there is no curated exhibition. Its meaning is conveyed through architecture and sculpture. The site has been maintained over the decades and damaged or vandalised at times, with conservation work carried out. It stands next to the Avala Tower, a telecommunications tower rebuilt in 2010 after destruction in the 1999 NATO bombing. Entry is free and the site is open at all hours. The monument is about 16 kilometres from central Belgrade and can be reached by bus or car, set in a forested park popular for walks.