Ada Međica ( sr-cyr, Ада Међица) is an island and an urban neighborhood of

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, the capital of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of

Novi Beograd New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bu ...

. Ada Međica is an ovally shaped river island in the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

river, a long and wide, covering an area of . It is located just north of the central part of the much larger

Ada Ciganlija Ada Ciganlija ( sr-cyr, Ада Циганлија, ), colloquially shortened to Ada, is a river island that has artificially been turned into a peninsula, located in the Sava River's course through central Belgrade, Serbia. The name can also ref ...

Name

The name of the island, Ada Međica, is Serbian for "border river island" as for the centuries the Sava river was a border of many states (

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, Serbia,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, etc.). The island is on the borderline today too as it belongs to the municipality of Novi Beograd, and away Ada Ciganlija belongs to the municipality of

Čukarica Čukarica ( sr-cyr, Чукарица, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. Name Like several other neighborhoods of Belgrade, Čukarica was named after kafana. At the present location of the Sugar Refinery, there was a kafana in the seco ...

. The island was previously, at least until the World War I, also known as Ada Zanoga, but also as Mala Ada ("little Ada").

Human history

In 1962 first settlers began visiting the island when the first stilt houses were constructed. The very first one was a tree house built on the tip, constructed by , an architect and artists, nicknamed Peđa Isus (Peđa the Jesus). He built it after the Communist authorities confiscated his family's home, as his own "free sanctuary". After he was informed that the authorities plan to demolish his tree house because "it became the gathering place of young people who are, with their outfits and behavior, inadequate for

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

's youth", Ristić removed the house from the tree and placed it on the ground. He was criticized originally, but in time got praises for being an "urban Robinson rusoe while his idea was labeled as rebellious and escapist. Also, he inspired many others to spend weekends on the islands, technically without leaving the city but also without any of the urban rush. Already in 1963 the care of the island has been entrusted by the municipal government to the “Society of the Sava and Danube Devotees” for 99 years, as ordered by the decision of the Supreme Court of Yugoslavia. Stilt houses were first built on the side facing the Ada Ciganlija and later the side facing New Belgrade's Block 44 also developed. The city later sued the Society wanting the island back, but they lost in court. When a long international swimming marathon "Ada Međica" was organized in July 2016, a non-exploded, heavy

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

bomb was discovered near the island's tip, at the depth of . The bomb was removed and destroyed. The marathon, known as one of the rare swimming events in Serbia which includes swimming upstream, is planned as an annual event and the second outing in 2017 was dedicated to the celebration of 55 years since the first houses were built on the island. Since 2018 there are two races: one recreational ( downstream only) and one professional and semi-professional ( around the island). By 2021, the number of races further diversified, the competition became international and the points for the "SRB Open Water Cup" have been awarded. The competition was renamed to the "International Belgrade's Swimming Marathon Ada Međica".

Administration

One of the local communities which constitute the neighborhood of

Blokovi Blokovi ( sr-cyr, Блокови, English: "Blocks") or Novobeogradski blokovi ( sr-cyr, Новобеоградски блокови) is the semi-formal plural name for a group of List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhoods in City of Belg ...

of Novi Beograd was named Ada Međica in the 1990s, with a population of 5,012 in 1991 and 4,636 in 2002. Local community was later abolished and the island is now part of the local community "Sava".

Nature

The island is forested with 250 wildly grown

oak tree An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s, between 50 and 100 years old, majority originating from the 1920s. In 2015-2017 some 2,500 seedlings of

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

were planted throughout the island. The forest was a habitat for the

sparrows Sparrow may refer to: Birds * Old World sparrows, family Passeridae * New World sparrows, family Passerellidae * two species in the Passerine family Estrildidae: ** Java sparrow ** Timor sparrow * Hedge sparrow, also known as the dunnock or hed ...

mallards The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

and

pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

, but by the 2010s they were almost completely wiped out by the growing population of

crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. T ...

. Two large flocks of the wild geese live on the island and are an attraction for the visitors. Other birds which can be found on the island include

blue tits The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident bird, resident and ...

woodpeckers Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

collared dove ''Streptopelia'' is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be pale brown and the underparts are often a shade of pink. Many have a characteristic bla ...

herons The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

jays A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

and hen harriers.

Characteristics

Ada Međica has no resident population, but has 87 weekend- stilt houses and 202 house-boats owned by the residents of Belgrade. Maximum size of the stilt house or the house-boat is . Necessary electricity is provided by the solar panels. Water was conducted through the pipe on the Sava river bed and a mini-waterworks with five taps was built on the island. During summer, over 2,000 Belgraders spend weekends on Ada Međica, which is accessible only by small boats, including the seasonal boat line from the Block 44. Leisure activities include swimming, walking and barbecues, as the area is nearly intact and without touristic facilities. Only the eastern, upstream tip of the island is concreted to prevent the erosion. The Sava river's stream is so strong that it pushes the island 50 to 100 centimeters per year in the downstream direction. The island is regularly flooded by the river and an operation of "anchoring" the island is deemed too expensive by the local authorities. During the floods, the island is regularly covered with mud and usually flooded so much that the boats have to be used for the transportation from one stilt house to another. There are two small beaches, officially classified as the "wild beaches". One is near the northern, concreted tip and the other is a sandy beach close to the southern tip.

References

External links

Ada Međica photo page with texts in Serbian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ada Medica Neighborhoods of Belgrade River islands of Serbia New Belgrade