The house of Shop Đokić is located in Leskovac. It was built at the beginning of the 19th century, and it has the status of a cultural monument in the category of cultural property of great importance.
The Šop-Đokić family lived there from 1820 to 1956, when one part of the property was confiscated, and the house itself was nationalized. The house was built as a multi-story building in a post and pane construction system, with a multi-pitched roof covered with tiles and with protruding eaves.
Originally, the house had four rooms on the ground floor and five rooms upstairs. There is a “divanhana” on the first floor that stands out, placed in the middle of the courtyard facade.
The interior of the building has wood-carved decorations that stand out, on the ceilings, stairs railings, cupboards and niches, as well as on the door and window frames.
Particularly interesting in the interior of the house are the shutters on the windows, which were made of two parts so that the upper part rises and the lower part lowers.
In 1979, the western part of the house was reconstructed, when there was a change in the layout of the rooms on the ground floor and the first floor. Regardless of the changes that occurred in the interior, the house has retained the general characteristics of a townhouse characteristic of the first half of the 19th century.
The house has a ground floor and a first floor. Considering the importance and role that it plays in the development of the architecture of the city, the house was placed under the protection of the state.
The courtyard facade of the house is more open, more accessible and livelier than the external one, which witnesses the closed family life that was typical for the period of Turkish rule. The main and the most beautiful rooms are located upstairs.
The spacious hall is in the middle, and behind the hall, one enters the open “divanhana”, the most prominent and most beautiful part of the house. The most interesting decorative element of the whole building is the ceiling of the “divanhana”, richly made with wood carvings, not many of which have been preserved in Serbia. What stands out in the interior of the building are the decorations in the stair railing, the masonry cupboards and niches, door frames and windows, and the shutters on the windows are a special feature of the exterior of the house.
This building is one of the few preserved, and as such, it was placed under the protection of the state. Today, these are the premises of the Tourist Organization and the Department of the Ministry of Education. It is open to visitors during working hours, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.