Bečmen (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Бечмен) is a

suburban settlement A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of

Surčin Surčin ( sr-Cyrl, Сурчин, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is located in the eastern Syrmia region in Central Europe, 32km west of downtown Belgrade. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 45,452 inhabitants. It is the ...

Location

Bečmen is located in the western-central part of the municipality, in the

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

region (sub-region of

Podlužje Podlužje ( sr-cyr, Подлужје) is a small geographical region in Serbia. It is located in south-eastern Syrmia. The western part of Podlužje belongs to the autonomous province of Vojvodina, and the eastern part belongs to the city of Belg ...

, north of the ''Bojčinska'' woods), 6 kilometers west of its municipal seat, Surčin, and some 25 kilometers west of downtown Belgrade. It is located on the road which connects

Petrovčić Petrovčić ( sr-cyr, Петровчић) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Surčin. Location Petrovčić is the westernmost settlement in the municipality, located right next to the admini ...

on the west to Surčin on the east, and continues to the west into 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 ...

(the village of Karlovčić).

History

From the 19th century, when the area was part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, it was populated by the German settles from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, which emigrated after

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 ...

and the village was colonized with the settlers from the central Serbia. That is why the village's football club is called „Šumadinac“, after

Šumadija Šumadija ( sr-Cyrl, Шумадија, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of t ...

, region of central Serbia. Bečmen was known for the vast number of big

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

trees, which spread all the way to the neighboring Petrovčić, and for the vineyards.

Population

Bečmen is statistically classified as a rural settlement (village), and it had a steady population growth in the past century, except for the immediate period after World War II, due to the immigration of the German population. According to the latest Serbian census of population, Bečmen had a population of 3,785. Major ethnic groups by the 2002 census were the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

(3,214 or 94.28%),

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

(60 or 1.76%),

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

(21 or 0.61%) and Macedonians (19 or 0.55%).

Ključ

A hamlet of Bečmen, named after the shape of the settlement (Serbian ''ključ'', the key).

Tourism

Bečmen Pond

Bečmen Pond () or Bečmen Lake () is a complex of three

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

lakes directly adjacent to the central part of the village. Total length of the lakes is . They are rich in

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

Prussian carp The Prussian carp, silver Prussian carp or Gibel carp (''Carassius gibelio'') is a member of the family Cyprinidae, which includes many other fish, such as the common carp, goldfish, and the smaller minnows. It is a medium-sized cyprinid, and d ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes perch, Gymnocephalus, ruffe and Darter (fish), darter. It is found in freshwater and brackis ...

grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...

silver carp The silver carp or silverfin (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in ...

and

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

. Apart from fishing, the water skiing is organized. International competition has been held annually since 2013. The pond is one of four small lakes interconnected by the channeled Galovica stream, and all also serve as fish ponds. In 2022, two

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

s were built on the pond.

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

s live in the lake.

Oaza sports complex

Area of Bečmen has been chosen as a location of the future largest

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, which is with the projected value of €800 million in the next 11 years one of the largest foreign investments in Serbia. It is projected that in the next six years a large course with 18 holes and two smaller ones with 9 holes will be built, while the entire complex on will be finished in 11 years and also include ambulance, open kindergarten, five star hotel complex, golf club, service buildings, business center, residential complex with 5,000 apartments but also a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

field, basketball, tennis, volleyball and handball courts,

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

and

bocce (, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci, or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to English bowls and French , with a common ancestry from anc ...

court. An artificial lake which will separate the courses from the residential area will be also created. The entire "Oaza" (

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Dobanovci Dobanovci ( sr-Cyrl, Добановци) is a List of Belgrade neighborhoods, suburban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Surčin. Dobanovci is located in the eastern Syrmia region, 25 km west of dow ...

. However, nothing has been done in those next 11 years, and in September 2019 the US-Austrian-Israeli consortium behind the project announced that only now the ownership problems with the land were solved, that drafting of the detailed regulatory plan begins and that works will start in 2020, starting with the large, 18 holes course.

References

Suburbs of Belgrade Populated places in Syrmia Surčin {{BelgradeRS-geo-stub