Dedinje

Dedinje
Дедиње
Urban neighbourhood
The Royal Palace in Dedinje
Dedinje
Location within Belgrade
Coordinates: 44°46′14″N 20°27′24″E / 44.77056°N 20.45667°E / 44.77056; 20.45667Coordinates: 44°46′14″N 20°27′24″E / 44.77056°N 20.45667°E / 44.77056; 20.45667
Country  Serbia
Region Belgrade
Municipality Savski Venac
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code +381(0)11
Car plates BG

Dedinje (Serbian Cyrillic: Дедиње; pronounced [dɛ̌diːɲɛ]) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje is generally considered the wealthiest part of Belgrade, and is the site of numerous villas and mansions owned by the members of the city's plutocracy, as well as many diplomatic residences.

Location

Dedinje is located on the eastern slopes of the hill of Topčidersko Brdo, 7-8 kilometers south of downtown Belgrade to which it is connected by the Kneza Miloša street. It borders the neighborhoods of Senjak (west), Prokop and Mostar (north), Stadion and Diplomatska Kolonija (actually, Dedinje's sub-neighborhood; east), Banjica, Lisičji Potok and Topčider (south). It is well connected to the other parts of Belgrade by several boulevards (of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, Vojvoda Putnik) and broad streets (Teodora Drajzera, Neznanog junaka, etc.). Main street in the neighborhood itself is the Užička street.

History

Before it was urbanized, the area of modern Dedinje was known for its vineyards, orchards and farms. The area was mentioned by the names Dedija, Mala Dedija, Dedina, Dedino brdo (literally, old man's hill; Serbian deda means old man, grandfather). In Turkish census from 1560, one of the Belgrade’s tekije was located there. Austrian army had a camp on Dedinje in 1789 and in their charts from the 18th century they called it Dedinberg. Settlement began to grow after the World War I, intensifying with the building of the residencies of the royal family Karađoršević, from 1924 to 1936. Majority of residents were from the most affluent Belgrade families of industrials, bankers, merchants and politicians, who built summer-houses at first and later lavish villas. What is today considered as the best known parts of Dedinje, like Tolstojeva or Užička streets, were not originally part of the settlement, as it emerged more to the south[1]

Dedinje became popular among Belgrade's rich even before World War II, when it was on the outskirts of the city (thus many military barracks intended to defend the city, which later spawned tens of kilometers further). Many beautiful mansions in green neighborhood have been built, but in 1945 when Communists took over, they declared almost all former residents a state enemies and forced them out of their houses, so the new Communist political and military elite moved in, Tito being among the first. It continued after the collapse of Communism in 1980s, when the nouveau riche politicians (like Slobodan Milošević), shady businessmen (like Karić family or Željko Mitrović) and criminals (like Željko Ražnatović Arkan) moved into the neighborhood and began expanding their villas and erecting high concrete walls. Most of such construction was illegal, often intruding on the property of Dedinje families that had been there for generations preceding the arrival of the nouveau riche/criminal class.

Apart from this, the neighborhood is a site of many embassies, diplomatic residences and some of Belgrade's most expensive restaurants and clubs. In 2013, it was announced that the villa “Crnogorka”, in Uzicka Street, was to be returned to Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. The villa was bought by her mother, Princess Olga, in 1940, and taken by the state in 1947. It is currently owned by the Serbian government and used as the official residence of the Ambassador of Montenegro.[2]

Dedinje belonged to the municipality of Topčidersko Brdo, which in 1957 merged with the municipality of Zapadni Vračar to create the municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje (local communities of Dedinje and 4. Juli) had a population of 8,704 in 2002[3] and 8,440 in 2011.[4]

Notable locations

Javak aquarium

Politics

Culture and science

Military

  • The vast secret military complex of Karaš, built between 1965-1980, with numerous barracks and kilometers of underground passages. Brought to the public's attention

in the 2004 unsolved murders of two on-duty soldiers.[10]

Health

Parks

Plantlife

  • several old or rare non-native trees protected by the state.[11]

Entertainment

References

  1. ↑ "Kako je Dedinje dobilo ime?", Politika (in Serbian)
  2. ↑ "Villa "Crnogorka" Returned To Princess Jelisaveta Karadjordjevic". In Serbia.
  3. ↑ Popis stanovništva po mesnim zajednicama, Saopštenje 40/2002, page 4. Zavod za informatiku i statistiku grada Beograda. 26 July 2002.
  4. ↑ Stanovništvo po opštinama i mesnim zajednicama, Popis 2011. Grad Beograd – Sektor statistike (xls file). 23 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Toma čeka da se Tadić iseli" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Vlada Srbije ima devet luksuznih objekata" (in Serbian). Blic. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Otvoren javni akvarijum i tropikarijum u Beogradu" (in Serbian). Radio Television Serbia. 19 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Slavica Stuparušić (7 May 2017), "Neobični stanovnici Dedinja - akvarijumske ajkule i ribe sreće", Politika-Magazin No. 1023 (in Serbian), pp. 19–21
  9. ↑ Neda Kurjački (26 July 2016). "Akvarijum i tropikarijum Beograđanima na dar" (in Serbian). N1.
  10. ↑ "Karaš još misterija" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  11. ↑ B. Vasiljević (26 April 2008). "Vekovi u krošnjama" (in Serbian). Politika. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
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