Englezovac ( sr-cyr, Енглезовац) is an
urban neighborhood of
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, the capital of
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
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, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
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. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of
Vračar
Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...
.
Location
Englezovac is located in the western part of the municipality, on the western slopes of the Vračar hill and stretches from the
Slavija square to the Vračar plateau and the
Temple of Saint Sava. The main streets in the neighborhood are ''Svetog Save'', ''Makenzijeva'' and the ''Boulevard of the Liberation''. Originally, term stretched west of the boulevard, but today not many people consider that part of Belgrade as part of Vračar.
History
Construction of Englezovac started in 1880 after a
Scottish businessman and
Nazarene Francis Mackenzie bought a large piece of land in 1879 from
Đorđe Simić, Serbian politician and prime minister, for 7,500
ducats. Land was bounded by the modern streets of ''Beogradska'', ''Njegoševa'', ''Molerova'', ''Makenzijeva'' (named after Mackenzie), ''Katanićeva'', ''Bore Stankovića'', ''Skerlićeva'' and ''Bulevar oslobođenja''. Previously known as the ''Simićev Majur'' (”Simić's farm”), the area eventually became known as Englezovac, Serbian for ''Englishman's place''), as the term Englishman is, even today, universally used in colloquial speech for any inhabitant of the Great Britain.
As the ''Simićev Majur'' was a marshy area, Mackenzie originally planned to drain the land and organize agricultural production. He changed his plans later, hiring architects who parceled it out into lots for selling and cut the streets through. Mackenzie then sold the lots. Soon numerous houses were built, mostly one or two-floors high. Larger edifices included the Hall of Peace (''Sala mira''), in which the cult cinema "Slavija" was situated later. After the urbanization, Englezovac included the area between the streets of ''Njegoševa'' and ''Svetog Save''.
He also donated a piece of land to the
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
for the construction of the Temple of Saint Sava. "The Society for the Embellishment of Vračar" suggested to Belgrade City Council to rename Englezovac to
Savinac
Savinac ( sr-cyr, Савинац) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Vračar.
Location
Savinac is located in the western part of the municipa ...
(Serbian for ''Sava's place'') on 31 March 1894. They stated that it is "a shame for the Serbian capital that a whole district is called Englishman's" and inconceivable that a national shrine (Temple of Saint Sava) lie on foreign property.
In the late 1980s, many books and articles on "Old Belgrade" became popular again and so the term Englezovac, at this time already unknown to majority of people, resurfaced. However, just like Savinac, it didn't get the popular usage, and most of Belgraders still refer to this part of the city as Vračar.
References
External links
Englezovac
Neighborhoods of Belgrade
Vračar
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