Manjež is located close to downtown, in an area bounded by the Nemanjina (south), Resavska (west), Kralja Milana (north) and Svetozara Markovića streets (east).
The compound originated from at least 1834, when Serbian building pioneer Nikola Živković (known as Hadži-Neimar), built the gunpowder magazine.
The park is one of the few green areas within the city, built between the World wars in the classical style.
Central section of the block, parallel to the outer Kralja Milana and Nemanjina streets, will include green, pedestrian passage which would directly connect park to the concrete piazzetta at Slavija.
[8] Further controversy was sparked due to the developer itself, which is partially owned by the former footballer Dejan Stanković, and is known for the corruptive deals with city officials, and illegal, or after the fact permitted constructions.
[10] Demolished buildings include the Old Citizens Savings Bank (19th century; at the corner of Svetozara Markovića and Kralja Milana streets), Citizens Savings Bank (1929, by Stevan Tobolar; 43 Svetozara Markovića Street), and 1927 building by Milan Zloković at No.
[11] When the Belgrade Metro was originally planned, one of the underground stations was supposed to be beneath the park.
After the plan designed by the prominent Russian architect, Nikolay Krasnov, the new building was financed by the shareholders' funds.
Academically conceived, the main façade was enlivened by the series of decorative architectural elements and allegoric sculptures, by the author Vojislav Ratimirović Šikoparija, a Belgrade sculptor.
The theatre burned again on 17 October 1997, due to the bad wirings, and was reopened as a highly modernized building with restored much of the old exterior, on 23 May 2003.
The violinist Stefan Milenković named Manjež the "true Serbian kafana and soul of the city" while actor Rade Šerbedžija called it "a mirror of old, beautiful Belgrade, the one I wish to remember it".
[18] As the venue was a collateral for the credit which wasn't paid off, in September 2018 the Expobank activated the mortgage insurance and the restaurant was listed for sale.
Built during the rule of Alexander Obrenović, the building was considered one of the most beautiful in Belgrade at the time, and hosted the elite guards unit.
However, it was the guards unit from this very barrack which conducted the May Coup in 1903 when the Obrenović dynasty was dethroned and King Alexander and Queen Draga were executed.
[21] The building was located in the Military Quarter of Belgrade, which stretched between the streets of Kneza Miloša, Kralja Milana, Birčaninova and the Slavija Square.
To further augment military function of the building, there are additional façade ornaments shaped like armors or shields.