Zvezdara
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Zvezdara ( sr-cyr, Звездара, ) is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of the city 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 municipality is geographically hilly and with many forests. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 172,625 inhabitants. The municipality of Zvezdara is located east of Belgrade and occupied almost the entire eastern urban section of the city. It borders the municipalities of Palilula on the north-west, north and north-east,
Grocka Grocka ( sr-cyr, Гроцка, ) or Grocka na Dunavu ( sr-cyr, Гроцка на Дунаву, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has 82,810 inhabitants. L ...
on the east and south-east,
Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...
on the south and south-west and
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 ...
on the west.


History

Historically, Zvezdara hill was known as Great
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 ...
. Vračаr area at that time occupied much wider area that it does today and was divided into West Vračar, East Vračar and Great Vračar. Turkish source from 1621 describes it as "a hill and a big field". In the 17th and 18th century, the area was covered in vineyards, orchards and lush oriental gardens, a major excursion ground for the wealthy Belgrade Turks which called the hill Ekmekluk (Turkish ''ekmek'', meaning bread) and built their summer houses there. The Ekmekluk occupied the slope which today spreads from the observatory to the Cvetko Market. When Belgrade was occupied in 1717 by
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, a defense moat was built whose outer section crossed the hill, where the modern ''Volgina'' street is today. After Austria re-occupied Belgrade in 1789, the trench was reconstructed by the general Ernst Gideon von Laudon and became known as the "Laudan trench" (Serbian: Laudanov šanac or simply Šanac). Due to the military importance of the hill, its gardens were neglected. Until the 1930s, the Zvezdara hill was known as Veliki Vračar (Great Vračar). In the 19th century the foothills were not urbanized and, being far from the city center, were used by the Belgraders as a resort and picnic area, named ''Baba Ružin kraj'' ("Grandma Ruža's neighborhood"). In 1929-32 an observatory designed by
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
-born architect Jan Dubový (1892–1969) was built on top of the hill. The observatory was originally called ''zvezdara'' ("star-house") in Serbian, so the hill and the developing suburban area of Belgrade around it was named that way soon. In time,
Latinism A Latinism (from ) is a word, idiom, or structure in a language other than Latin that is derived from, or suggestive of, the Latin language. The Term ''Latinism'' refers to those loan words that are borrowed into another language directly from ...
''opservatorija'' replaced ''zvezdara'', which in turn completely disappeared from spoken language as such, but remained as a name of Belgrade's neighborhood. As a result, many today believe Zvezdara was named that way simply after stars (Serbian ''zvezda'', star). In 1935 the Clinical Center (KBC) Zvezdara was built as a bequest by wealthy Serbian merchant Nikola Spasić. The area was rich in water, originally used for city waterworks. Several public
drinking fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...
s were built (like Pasha's fountain, dating from the
First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...
, in modern ''Živka Davidovića'' street or the Fountain of the third-class reservists, for the killed soldiers of the
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. near KBC Zvezdara). The KBC Zvezdara, which in time became known as the City Hospital Zvezdara, doubled its capacities already prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, expanding also number of wards. After the war it expanded capacities almost 8 times compared to December 1935, when it was opened and became one of the largest medical complexes in Serbia. Donation from the Sue Ryder charity in 1963, allowed the establishment of the first geriatrics ward in Yugoslavia. The municipality of Zvezdara was created on 1 September 1955, from (at that time) new neighborhoods around the observatory. On 1 January 1957 Zvezdara was greatly enlarged as the municipalities of Stari Đeram and Mali Mokri Lug were annexed to it. Villages of Kaluđerica, Vinča and Leštane (previously parts of Mali Mokri Lug) were later detached and annexed to the municipality of Grocka. In the first half of the 1970s, all settlements in the municipality became part of the Belgrade city proper (''uža teritorija grada'') so the entire municipality of Zvezdara is today one of six municipalities which are completely part of urban Belgrade.


Neighborhood

The Zvezdara neighborhood () is located south-east of downtown Belgrade. In its original sense, the neighborhood of Zvezdara comprises areas around the Zvezdara Forest, including the neighborhood of Zvezdara II. It borders the neighborhoods of Bogoslovija and Karaburma on the north,
Ćalije Ćalije ( sr-cyr, Ћалије) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem ...
on the north-east (all in the municipality of Palilula),
Mirijevo Mirijevo ( sr-cyrl, Миријево, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Zvezdara. One of the largest single neighborhoods in Europe, consists of several sub-n ...
on the east, Mali Mokri Lug on the south-east, Cvetkova Pijaca and Konjarnik on the south,
Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
on the south-west and Bulbuder on the west. The area had a population of 10,095 by the 2002 census of population. However, after the creation of the municipality in 1955, the entire section west and south-west of Zvezdara is today considered as part of it in a narrow sense (Lion, Bulbuder, Lipov Lad, Cvetkova Pijaca, etc.). This is a list of neighborhoods in the municipality:


Geography

Despite being one of Belgrade's minor municipalities in terms of area (31 square kilometer), Zvezdara covers some of the highest sections of urban Belgrade, including the hills: * Stojčino Brdo (270 meters) * Orlovica (265 meters, also, but incorrectly, named Orlovača on some city maps) * Zvezdara (253 meters) * Mokroluško Brdo (234 meters) Zvezdara basically has no real city parks, but has two large wooded areas, Zvezdara Forest (with an arranged park within, in the north-central part) and the northern section of Stepin Lug in the southern part of the municipality. Peti Park (Fifth park) is a minute green area in the neighborhood of Lipov Lad which gained a lot of publicity in the mid-2000s with a public movement to keep the area green. Zvezdara does not come out on the river banks of two major Belgrade's rivers (the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
and
Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...
). The major water flows in the municipality are two creeks, both of which are partially conducted underground in the city sewer: Mokroluški potok and ''Mirijevski potok''. For several hundred meters, the Bolečica river flows through the southernmost part of the municipality, near Bubanj Potok.


Demographics

According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 172,625 inhabitants. The population of the municipality had a steady, large growth until the 1990s when birthrates plunged in all of Serbia due to the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
. Zvezdara remains one of the most densely populated areas in entire Serbia, with 4,897 inhabitants per square kilometer .


Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality (as of 2022):


Administration

Recent Presidents of the municipality were: * 1996–2000: Vučeta Mandić * 2000–November 19, 2004: Petar Moravac (b. 1964) * November 19, 2004 – February 18, 2005: Milan Popović (b. 1948) * February 18, 2005 – June 28, 2005:
Ljubiša Stojmirović Ljubiša Stojmirović ( sr-Cyrl, Љубиша Стојмировић; born 11 September 1950) is a politician in Serbia. He has served several terms in the National Assembly of Serbia. Formerly a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party, he h ...
(b. 1950) * June 28, 2005 – June 11, 2012: Milan Popović (b. 1948) * June 11, 2012 – June 1, 2016: Edip Šerifov (b. 1977) * June 1, 2016 – September 4, 2020: Miloš Ignjatović (b. 1961) * September 4, 2020 – present: Vladan Jeremić (b. 1974)


Culture and society

Educational and research facilities: * leading ICT researchers,
Mihajlo Pupin Institute Mihajlo Pupin Institute () is an institute based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is named after Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin and is part of the University of Belgrade. It is notable for manufacturing numerous computer systems used in SFR Yugoslavia - especia ...
* Zvezdara observatory * Belgrade Business School * Republic Bureau of Statistics * VI Belgrade Gymnasium * Technical school for Geodesy and Surveying * Technical College of Vocational Studies for Civil Engineering and Surveying * Nursing school * Medical center (KBC Zvezdara) * City hospital (''Gradska bolnica'') * Anti-tuberculosis hospital Theaters: * Tetar Kult * Zvezdara Teatar Churches: * ; former industrial object, adapted into church by Momir Korunović in 1933; * ; also built by Korunović; * Saint Trifon (Mali Mokri Lug) * Saint Prophet Elias (Mirijevo) * Saint Father Nikolay ( New Cemetery) Sports: * Stadium FK Hajduk Beograd * Stadium FK Zvezdara * Stadium FK Balkan Bukovica * Stadium FK 29. November * Stadium FK Mladi Proleter * Sports center "Zvedara" (popularly styled "Olimp")


Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):


Industry

As many areas of modern Zvezdara municipalities were villages and rural areas annexed to it in the 1950s, entire southern and eastern sections (Padina, Veliki Mokri Lug, Mali Mokri Lug, Mirijevo) are without industry. Industrial facilities are mostly grouped in two sections: Konjarnik (plastics ''Bukulja'', precise and optical instruments ''Precizna mehanika'', white metals ''Metal'') and upper ''Bulevar kralja Aleksandra'' section (textile ''Kluz'', electronics ''Nikola Tesla'', plastics ''Utenzilija'', presses ''Glas Javnosti'' and ''Kurir'',
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
''Livnica'').


Commerce

As most of the ''Bulevar kralja Aleksandra'' goes through the municipality of Zvezdara, one of the strongest commercial zones in Belgrade developed around this, the longest street in the old section of Belgrade (9 kilometers). The long zone along the boulevard, simply known as "Bulevar" (despite there are some 20 boulevards in Belgrade), apart from several dozens of shops of all kinds, hosted also hundreds of street sellers, which are now confined to the large covered
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
-type store named "Depo" (" depot").


Transportation

Some of the busiest streets in Belgrade pass through the municipality of Zvezdara. Basically, the main street that goes through the central part of the entire municipality is Bulevar kralja Aleksandra which continues through the municipality of Grocka to the town of
Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...
. Additionally, in almost parallel way, the Highway Belgrade–Niš goes through the southern part. ''Ruzveltova'' and ''Mije Kovačevića'' in the eastern section are among the busiest and most polluted traffic areas in the city. Other major city routes include streets ''Vojislava Ilića'', ''Ustanička'', ''Dimitrija Tucovića'', ''Dragoslava Srejovića'', ''Milana Rakića'', ''Jovanke Radaković'', ''Mirijevski venac'' and ''Matice Srpske''. The large
bus garage A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, a ...
depot of GSP Belgrade, city's public transportation company and ''Lasta'', its sister company, are located on the highway. There is no railroad passing through the municipality, but Vukov Spomenik is one of the underground train stations of the future Belgrade Metro, which for now operates as part of the Belgrade-
Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...
railway (local Beovoz rail), connecting Nova Pazova (in the province of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
), Belgrade and Pančevo (in Vojvodina again).


Zvezdara II

A northern sub-neighborhood of Zvezdara, today mostly centered on the
roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...
of bus line number 65. It consists of several small urban patches in the northern section of Zvezdara Forest, north of the observatory and
Mihajlo Pupin Institute Mihajlo Pupin Institute () is an institute based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is named after Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin and is part of the University of Belgrade. It is notable for manufacturing numerous computer systems used in SFR Yugoslavia - especia ...
and along the ''Dragoslava Srejovića'' street, which divides it from the neighborhoods of Karaburma and Ćalije on the north and north-east, respectively, both in the municipality of Palilula.


Zvezdara Forest

Zvezdara Forest (''Zvezdarska šuma'' or ''Zvezdani Gaj'', Serbian Cyrillic: Звездарска шума or Звездани гај) After Topčider and Košutnjak, Zvezdara is the largest forest in the urban zone of Belgrade, a
crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...
-shaped wooded area which covers most of the Zvezdara Hill. The northern and eastern border of the wood is formed mostly by the ''Dragoslava Srejovića'' street. It borders the neighborhoods of Karaburma on the north, Ćalije on the north-east, Mirijevo on the east, Cvetkova Pijaca on the south and Zvezdara itself on the west. In the beginning of the 20th century the Veliki Vračar Hill area was designed for afforestation. After the construction of the observatory in 1929-32 on top of the hill, the forest creation began making a unique artificially created green zone in Belgrade's urban tissue. Today, the observatory is roughly in the middle of the forest. The Zvezdara Forest today covers an area of 137
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s, out of which 21 hectare is arranged as a park. Apart from the observatory, objects within the forest or near it include the "Mihajlo Pupin Institute" in the north-central and seven small
stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
s (FC 29. Novembar, FC Zvezdara, FC Mladi proleter) in the north-western section. Patches of the northern section are urbanized, forming a neighborhood of Zvezdara II (especially along the ''Dragoslava Srejovića'' street). The forest is also damaged by the unauthorized individual residential construction, so in 2007 Belgrade City government announced further plans to extend the Zvezdara Forest to the north and south, connecting it in the process to Ada Huja and Šumice, respectively, either as real park or just avenues, and thus creating Belgrade's greenway. Number of animal species protected by Serbian and international laws live in Zvezdara forest. Some of them are: * East European hedgehog (Latin ''Erinaceus concolor''; Serbian: ''evropski belogrudi jež'') *
European mole The European mole (''Talpa europaea'') is a mammal of the order Eulipotyphla. It is also known as the common mole and the northern mole. This mole lives in a tunnel system, which it constantly extends. It uses these tunnels to hunt its prey. ...
(Lat. ''Talpa europaea''; Serbian: ''krtica'') *
Common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus '' Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of ...
(Lat. ''Buteo buteo''; Serbian: ''mišar'') *
Tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is a stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. The tawny owl' ...
(Lat. ''Strix aluco''; Serbian: ''šumska sova'') *
Long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...
(Lat. ''Asio otus''; Serbian: ''mala ušara'') *
Scops owl Scops owls are typical owls in family Strigidae belonging to the genus ''Otus'' and are restricted to the Old World. ''Otus'' is the largest genus of owls with 59 species. Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighte ...
(Lat. ''Otus scops''; Serbian: ''ćuk'')Study of Tawny Owl Strix aluco (Linnaeus 1758) diet from pellet samples collected in Serbia during 2003 and 200

/ref> *
Little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at t ...
(Lat. ''Athene noctua''; Serbian: ''kukumavka'')


International cooperation

Zvezdara is twinned with the following cities and municipalities: * Kisela Voda,
North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
Honoring this cooperation, one street between Zvezdara and Mirijevo was named "Kisela Voda" in the mid-2000s.


See also

*
Subdivisions of Belgrade Serbia's capital city of Belgrade is divided into 17 municipality, municipalities. Most of the Municipalities of Serbia, municipalities are situated on the southern side of the Danube and Sava rivers, in the Šumadija region. Three municipaliti ...
* List of Belgrade neighborhoods and suburbs


References

* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', First edition (1959); Prosveta; * Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;


External links

*
Zvezdara Theatre

Zvezdara Observatory

Protect Zvezdara forest
{{Authority control Municipalities of Belgrade Neighborhoods of Belgrade Parks in Belgrade