upper part of the street bordered the garden of Prince Alexander Karađorđević. After the implementation of the 1867 city of Belgrade regulation plan by Emilijan Josimović, the street soon gained its current look and architecture. Josimović’s plan marked the beginning of the city’s broader metamorphosis from oriental to the western urbanism. Prior to Josimović, only a short part of what is today Knez Mihailova, called ″Delijska street″, actually existed as a street. Works on construction of the new street began in spring of 1869. Josimović's plan successfully transformed the existing incomplete trail into the proper street which directly connected downtown Belgrade with the fortress, thus establishing a direct communication between the inner and outer neighborhoods. City founded its first street naming commission in 1864. The commission worked for 6 years, and the Knez Mihailova was the first street they named. Houses were built there by the most influential and wealthiest families of the Serbian society, most of them merchants. In 1870, two years after the assassination of Prince Mihailo Obrenović, the city authorities officially named the street - Ulica Kneza Mihaila (Prince Michael Street) instead of ″Delijska″. The Hajduk Veljko kafana situated on the street, was the first location where the Belgraders could hear the phonograph, in 1896, while in 1906 it became the first cinema in the city. 20th century In the early 20th century, a wealthy merchant Vlada Mitić opened the first department store in Belgrade at No. 41. It was the first building specifically projected to be a large, modern store. Mitić implemented the novelties like the delay in payment and modernized advertising of the goods. Few years after the war, new Communist authorities banned religious processions, litije, claiming they are full of "reactionary elements". When Archbishop of Canterbury visited Belgrade in May 1946, huge crowd of people spontaneously gathered in the Knez Mihailova, effectively forming a procession. Seeing this as a hidden anti-regime event, the authorities dispatched the OZNA agents from their headquarters in the adjoining Obilićev Venac. Massive beating of the procession participants ensued, which resulted in dozens of injured and arrested. Young volunteers, members of the Youth work actions, participated in the street's reconstruction in 1949. In 1980, the detailed regulatory plan for the street and its historical surrounding was adopted, which expired in 2021. In the late 20th century, from mostly shopping area it evolved into the cultural center of the city. In