The sculpture “Blind Minstrel”, the only preserved part of the monumental composition of the Monument to Karađorđe, which was located at Kalemegdan in the period from 1913 to 1916, was unveiled on Wednesday, 11 November 2020, at Kalemegdan.
The monument was solemnly unveiled by the Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Goran Vesić, and the Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, Olivera Vučković. The ceremony was also attended by the General Manager of PE Belgrade Fortress, Marija Reljić.
The idea of returning the “Blind Minstrel” to Kalemegdan originated from the recently deceased archaeologist Marko Popović, PhD, who, together with the PE Belgrade Fortress and the Museum of the City of Belgrade, located the sculpture. The “Blind Minstrel”, work of sculptor Paskije Paško Vučetić, was returned to its original condition by sculptor Zoran Kuzmanović, and some of the missing parts were cast – part of the little finger, part of the musical instrument (gusle) and stick. The bronze sculpture “Blind Minstrel” is 200 cm high and is located on a 40 cm high stone pedestal.

The “Blind Minstrel”, the work of sculptor Paskije Paško Vučetić, is the only preserved part of the monumental composition of the Monument to Karađorđe in Kalemegdan, erected on 13 August 1913, and demolished in 1916 by the Austro-Hungarian occupation forces, who intended to erect a monument to their ruler, Franz Joseph.
After the end of the First World War, the Monument of Gratitude to France was erected on the site of the dismantled Monument to Karađorđe in 1930, which was completely renovated in 2018 with the funds secured by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of France. In the same year, as part of the rehabilitation and restoration activities, extensive works were carried out on arranging the park areas of the Veliki Kalemegdan Park in the access zones and in the immediate vicinity of the Monument of Gratitude to France, which opened the possibility to adequately mark this area in accordance with its historical stratification.

The “Blind Minstrel” was returned to Kalemegdan, at the initiative of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, and by the Decision of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade and the Commission for Monuments and Names of Squares and Streets of the City of Belgrade.