City government, part of the Quisling administration in Serbia, was entrusted with the task of conducting construction plans for Slavija devised in Germany. German occupational forces concluded that the traffic flow rate in Slavija was too low and that it obstructed transportation. All plans, including some foundations already laid, were cut by the outbreak of World War II in 1941. However, the plans in the late Interbellum included almost complete makeover of Slavija, with construction of numerous important buildings, including the Belgrade Opera House and the 'MitiД‡ Tower', the largest department store and the tallest building in the Southeast Europe. Surrounding was an entangled web of small streets which, though cobblestoned in the early 20th century, were remains of the old, dirt paths dating from the Ottoman period. Until World War II Slavija remained an unregulated crossroad of eight streets, which crossed at different angles. Word 'Slavija' itself is a generic term for land inhabited by the Slavs.Д«ronze bust of Dimitrije TucoviД‡ on the central plateau before it was removed on 13 November 2016 The large object gave name to its surroundings, and then to the entire neighborhood. The hotel hosted recitals, theatrical shows and choirs performances. The venue had a big hall for the parties and balls, and a spacious summer, open-air garden. The hotel's kafana became one of the best known in Belgrade. Today demolished, the original inn, later hotel 'Slavija' was built from 1882 to 1888. The other, smaller buildings at the corner of Kralja Milana and the square, where the famous cafГ©s 'Tri seljaka' and 'RudniДЌanin' used to be, were destroyed before and during World War II. Soon after that, Mackenzie built a house for himself at Slavija (at the place where the old 'Slavija' cinema used to be), which in 1910 was turned into the Socialist People's Center, a gathering place of the worker's movement. The formation of the square started when a well-known Scottish businessman and Nazarene Francis Mackenzie, bought a large piece of land above the present square and parcelled it for sale (the area became subsequently known as Englezovac). The earth from the top of the VraДЌar hill above the Slavija was used to cover and drain the pond, in turn flattening the hill and creating the modern VraДЌar plateau. The remnant of the pond is the large underground water spring under the modern Hotel Slavija. The pond was naturally drained by the VraДЌarski potok, down the modern Nemanjina street, into the Gypsy Pond in the neighborhood of Savamala. Until the 1880s, the area around Slavija was a large pool on the eastern outskirts of the city. The neighborhood which surrounds the square borders the neighborhoods of Cvetni Trg in the north, VraДЌar's sub-neighborhoods of Grantovac in the north-east and Englezovac/ Savinac in the south-east, and Zapadni VraДЌar to the west. The majority of the square itself belongs to the municipality of VraДЌar (eastern and central parts) while the western parts belong to the municipality of Savski Venac. Slavija is located less than 1.5 kilometers south of Terazije (downtown Belgrade), at an altitude of 117 meters.

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