WHICH BIRD IS THE VICTOR HOLDING IN HIS HAND? Many Belgradians do not know the answer to this question!

Foto: facebook.com/Goran Vesić

Th Victor is the name of the triumphant monument erected in 1928 in the Upper Town of the Belgrade Fortress, it was built to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the final breakthrough of the Salonika Front.

The monument is the work of the famous sculptor Ivan Mestrovic and today it is one of the most recognisable symbols of Belgrade. It represents the figure of a strong naked man holding a lowered sword in his right hand and a bird in the open palm of his left hand.

However, this is exactly what sparked a dilemma which is still ongoing among Belgradians - which bird is the Victor holding in his hand?

Foto: ST/N. MANDIĆ

Even nowadays, many will say that this is a pigeon, as it symbolises peace.  The jokers will swear that it is a sparrow, because is this bird not the "symbol of Serbian capital's streets"?  However, it turns out that the Victor is holding a bird of prey in his left hand.

- It is a falcon! Mestrovic conceptualised the Victor as an archetypal hero. He is a knight and in his hand he is holding a bird which symbolises knighthood, a falcon - said Neda Kovacevic, a great connoisseur of Belgrade's past and the woman who made an inventory of all the monuments in Serbia's capital.

The confusion over the species of bird partly comes from the fact that some written documents also mention that this could be an eagle. Even though this possibility has not been ruled out, Neda points out that a falcon would make much more sense.

- An eagle would be much bigger. Moreover, one of the unofficial names for this monument is the Falconer - Neda Kovacevic explains, as reported by Mondo.