The Kalemegdan Park ( sr, / ), or simply Kalemegdan ( sr-Cyrl, Калемегдан) is the largest park and the most important historical monument in
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 ...
.
[ It is located on a cliff, at the junction of the River ]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 ...
and the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
.
Kalemegdan Park, split in two as the Great
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
and Little
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
Parks, was developed in the area that once was the town field within the Belgrade Fortress
The Belgrade Fortress ( sr-Cyrl, Београдска тврђава, Beogradska tvrđava), consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park (Large and Little Kalemegdan) on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, in a ...
. Today residents often erroneously refer to the entire fortress as the Kalemegdan Fortress or just Kalemegdan, even though the park occupies the smaller part, especially of the historical fortress, and it is some two millennia younger. The fortress, including the Kalemegdan, represents a cultural monument
A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...
of exceptional importance (from 1979), the area where various sport, cultural and arts events take place, for all generations of Belgraders and numerous visitors of the city.
History
Pre-park history
The name is formed from the two Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
words: ''kale'' (meaning "fortress") and
meydan
' (meaning "plaza, square", phonetically shifted to "megdan" in Serbian). Originally, it was an empty strip of land, from the Sava to the Danube (hence the name). It was used by the Ottoman army as the training ground, ceremonial military review location and the gathering point of the army before the battles. Several meters wide strip also separated the strictly military section of the fortress from the civilian houses.[
As such, the field was neglected for centuries. Bohemian writer Siegfried Kapper visited Belgrade in 1850 and in his 1853 book ''Südslavische Wanderungen'' (''Roaming through the South Slavic lands'') wrote: "I wandered off in the Turkish part of the city...and I reached some large, green meadow. It was Kalemegdan, the open field which separates city from the fortress. The appearance of the field is quite rugged. The terrain is uneven and rocky. No tree or shrub can prosper here. The grass is dry...and bones of dead horses and cattle are scattered over it. But so much better is the view, which widely spreads over both river and their banks".][
According to diplomat Kosta Hristić, the Kalemegdan was full of dogs, some feral, and was dangerous to pass through. Still, the several historical events occurred there. Ruling prince ]Miloš Obrenović
Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
Sportsmen
* Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower
* Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer
* Miloš Budaković, Serbian f ...
accepted the 1859 '' beratlı]'', by which the Ottoman sultan confirmed his second accession to the throne. During the Čukur Fountain incident
The Čukur Fountain incident ( sr, Инцидент на Чукур-чесми/Incident na Čukur-česmi) refers to a series of events in June 1862 in Belgrade, at the time the capital of the Ottoman subject state of Serbia. On 15 June (O.S. 3 Ju ...
in 1862, as the fighting between Serbs and Ottomans happened in the vicinity, British and Russian consuls in Belgrade relocated to the tents in Kalemegdan, to have better insight in the situation. When the Ottomans fully withdrew from Serbia in 1867, the Turkish pasha handed over the keys to the city to the ruling prince Mihajlo Obrenović
Mihajlo ( sr-cyr, Михајло) is the Serbian variant of the name ''Michael'', predominantly borne by ethnic Serbs. It is also spelled Mihailo (Михаило) and Mijailo (Мијаило).
;Science
*Mihajlo Pupin, Serbian physicist
*Mihajlo ...
.[
]
Origin
The area wasn't cultivated immediately after the Turkish withdraw.[ The first works on arranging the town field Kalemegdan started in 1869. Though not the oldest park in Belgrade, it is the one which is being continually groomed and attended the longest. The area of the town field was sort of a buffer zone between the fortress and the settlement outside of the Laudon trench, which separated the Turkish and the Serbian sections of Belgrade.] The idea of turning the area into the park came from Belgrade's first trained urbanist, Emilijan Josimović
Emilijan Josimović (Moldova Nouă, Caraș-Severin County, then part of Austrian Empire, 1823 – Sokobanja, 25 May 1897) was a Serbian urban planner who designed the first urban plan of Belgrade at the same time as Cerdà in Barcelona and Georges ...
, who in 1869 basically constructed modern Knez Mihailova
Knez Mihailova Street, ( sr, Кнез Михаилова улица, translit=Knez Mihailova ulica, officially: sr, Улица кнеза Михаила, translit=Ulica kneza Mihaila, label=none), is the main pedestrian and shopping zone in Belgra ...
Street. Prior to that, only a short part of what is today Knez Mihailova, called ″Delijska street″, actually existed as a street. Josimović successfully transformed the existing incomplete trail into the proper street which directly connected downtown Belgrade with the fortress, thus establishing a direct communication between the inner and outer neighborhoods. Josimović then proposed that Kalemegdan, as now Knez Mihailova ended at it, should be transformed into "gorgeous park", as he considered parks in general "air reservoirs". Later, architect Aleksandar Bugarski who was also a landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
continued to improve on the work of Josimović.
King Milan ordered the levelling of the terrain in the eastern sections of the fortress and planting of the greenery and trees, which in time developed into the Kalemegdan Park. He was inspired by the parks he saw in France. First phase of the forestation lasted until 1875 and included planting of the trees beneath the fortress' ramparts and in the Upper Town. The arranging of the main Sava alley, above the river, began in 1886. Most extensive works in the park were done from 1890. During March 1891, the pathways were cut through, and trees were planted; in 1903 the Small Staircase was built, based on the project of Jelisaveta Načić
Jelisaveta Načić (31 December 1878 in Belgrade – 6 June 1955 in Dubrovnik) was a notable Serbian architect. She is remembered as a pioneer who inspired women to enter professions which had earlier been reserved for men. Not only the first ...
, the first woman architect in Serbia, while the Big Staircase, designed by architect Aleksandar Krstić, was built in 1928.
Area at the top of the Little Kalemegdan, which is occupied by the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion
„Cvijeta Zuzorić“ Art Pavilion ( sr, Уметнички павиљон "Цвијета Зузорић", ) is an exhibition building in Belgrade, in Kalemegdan, situated in the park's section of Little Kalemegdan, next to the south-eastern fro ...
today, was an open 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.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
ground for a long time. The very first recorded circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
in Belgrade settled here in 1845. Sources from the period claim this was the first time the Belgraders saw an elephant. In 1869, a Tunisian circus with 18 acts, performed at Kalemegdan. Later, the fairground became permanent. Tents were placed, with numerous attractions: ''panoptikum'' or collections of curios, ''okular'' ("funny" ocular lenses), magicians, fortune tellers, illusionists, etc. Ilija Božić performed here the very first Serbian puppet show, ''Kuku, Todore''. In the mid-1920s the fair was displaced to Voždovac
Voždovac ( sr-cyr, Вождовац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 158,213 inhabitants.
The municipality is located in the south-central part of the urban ...
, an eastern suburb at the time, due to the impending construction of the art pavilion. As the new location was too distant for most of the Belgraders, the fair was soon disbanded. The circuses and fairs were so popular, that National Theatre in Belgrade
The National Theatre ( sr-cyr, Народно позориште, Narodno pozorište) is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia.
Founded in the later half of the 19th century, it is located on the Republic Square, at the corner of Vasina and Fra ...
asked for then to be banned from the city during the theatrical season.
20th century
The park was damaged during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, especially during the heavy Austro-Hungarian bombardment in 1914–1915, prior to occupation. Serbian army had no proper ammunition to fight the Austrian gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
s, so they freely fired at the city from the Sava river. Diplomat and author described it in 1914: "Kalemegdan is "trimmed", the trees in the park are battered, the ancient ramparts of Singidunum crushed, all being hit by the heavy, modern artillery, from precisely measured distance and even more precisely unmeasured hatred".
Though already by the 1900s the Kalemegdan got appearance of a proper park, it was especially embellished during the Interbellum
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
. In the 1920s and 1930s, new additions within the park were Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, Monument of Gratitude to France, sculpture-fountain "Fisherman" by Simeon Roksandić
Simeon Roksandić (14 May 1874 – 12 January 1943) was a Serbian sculptor and academic, famous for his bronzes and fountains. He is frequently cited as one of the most renowned figures in Serbian and Yugoslavian sculpture.
Roksandić exhibite ...
, Belgrade Zoo
Beo zoo vrt ( sr-cyrl, Бео зоо врт), also known as Vrt dobre nade (The Garden of good hope), is a publicly owned zoo located in Kalemegdan Park, downtown of Belgrade, Serbia. Established on July 12, 1936, it is considered to be one of th ...
, busts of poets and writers along the pedestrian pathways, etc.[
Actor Nikola Popović (1907–1967) formed the Artistic Theatre in 1939, in order to preserve the tradition of the private professional theatres. As the theatre had no building of its own, they performed at the summer stage in Kalemegdan.] The actors continued to perform throughout 1941, even after the German occupation in April, giving 101 performance under the occupation. A one-off motor race was held on the roads surrounding the parks in September 1939, the Belgrade Grand Prix
The Belgrade Grand Prix is a former grand prix from the Grand Prix motor racing era - precursor to Formula One. It was held on the streets of Belgrade, the capital of Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Serbia's largest city. Only one championship event w ...
of which the Belgrade City Race was the feature race. It is additionally notable as the last Grand Prix to be held in Europe for many years as fighting in what would become 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 ...
had started just days earlier to the north in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
In the mid-1980s, open-air disco "Crveni Podijum" (Red Podium) was organized in Kalemegdan. It was called the "largest open-air disco in the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as 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 throughout the who ...
" and was known to attract up to 10,000 visitors on some nights. In the 1990s, a club "Underground" was opened in the cave below the park. It was known for the specific type of music: acid jazz, funk, drum and house. The club enjoyed cult status for years but after the change of proprietors, the choice of music also changed and the club began playing folk music. It was closed later.
21st century
As of 2013, Kalemegdan Park covered an area of and had 3,424 individual trees from 80 different tree species. Most of the trees were between 20 and 60 years old.
On 23 September 2020, six Chinese windmill palm
''Trachycarpus fortunei'', the Chinese windmill palm, windmill palm or Chusan palm, is a species of hardy evergreen palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India.
Description
Growing to tall, ''Trachycar ...
trees were planted in front of the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion. Those were the first palms planted in Belgrade in the public green area. Authorities said that the palms will survive the weather as the Belgrade's climate is getting warmer due to the climate change.
Sections
Great Kalemegdan Park
Great Kalemegdan Park ( sr, / ) or simply Great Kalemegdan ( sr, / , links=no), occupies the southern corner of the fortress, with geometrical promenades, a military museum, a museum of forestry and hunting, and the Monument of Gratitude to France.
Staircases
= Big Staircase
=
= Small Staircase
=
Sava Promenade
A pedestrian walkway along the southwest section of the fortress is called Sava Promenade ( sr, / ). Due to the static problems, it was renovated in 1932–1933. The project was drafted by the Russian émigré architect Aleksandr Anastyevich Chelpanbaev. It connects the Big
Big or BIG may refer to:
* Big, of great size or degree
Film and television
* ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks
* ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show
* ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...
and the Small Staircase and is location of many outdoor exhibitions.
Pavilion on Sava Promenade
A pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
, with an area of was built in the 1920s along the Sava Promenade on the southern edge of the fortress. In the 1990s several families squatted in it. By the 2010s, the object was out of use, derelict and half-ruined. Lease of the object was announced in May 2014, but was recalled. It was repeated in July 2016. On 13 September 2017, without any announcements, the object was demolished. An info table was placed later, saying that the works on the reconstruction began on 15 September, two days after the object was completely razed to the ground. After public and media protests, the city owned communal company which administers the fortress, "Beogradska tvrđava", announced that the terrain is being prepared for the new object, which will have an artistic and cultural, but also a catering function. However, while the "Beogradska tvrđava", obtained a permit from the Ministry of construction, only works which will not affect the construction of the object were allowed, not a demolition. Also, at first they refused to disclose which company is the leaseholder, claiming that the investor pays for everything, though the info board named "Beogradska tvrđava" as an investor. As the entire Kalemegdan area is protected by the law, the State Institute for the monuments protection also had to approve any works. They issued a permit, naming which parts of the object have to be preserved and which may be demolished but, nevertheless, the entire house was demolished. "Beogradska tvrđava" claimed that everything has been done transparent and by the book (biddings, planned investments, etc.) but nothing could be found in the official records.
Since then, the leaseholders became known: two companies ("Cig" and "Black Rock"), which are already in the catering business, and which admitted that they planned to build a coffee shop, not to recreate an artistic of cultural pavilion. City sued all three participants, "Beogradska tvrđava", "Cig" and "Black Rock" and on 27 November 2017 the court declared their lease contract void. Only now became known that the contract was signed already on 5 August 2016, while "Cig" and "Black Rock" formed their consortium just one day before. Also, the works were to be finished by the mid-December 2017, after 3 months. Construction inspections visited the site several times and finally ordered the closing of the site and return to the previous state. On their side, State Institute for the monuments protection also banned any further construction. After the demolition, the wholes were dug in the ground, presumably for the new foundations, but in February 2018 the construction yard was abandoned and the dug out holes remained.
Public reactions were negative as from the start it was suspected that a restaurant or a coffee shop will be built. Further controversies, apart from the hidden information and almost absolute ignorance of the reporters and public inquires and refusal of the information disclosing by the "Beogradska tvrđava", were sparked when the bidding paperwork became public in the meantime. Only companies already in the foodservice activities were allowed to participate, even though it was noted that the object is not connected either to the waterworks nor the sewage system, and that there are no requirements to be connected at all.[
Ministry of construction confirmed that Ministry of culture issued the permit for archaeological research on the location in December 2017, when the construction site was declared an archaeological dig. Archaeologists made three digs and discovered the artifacts from the Antiquity and the Middle Ages. A fact that the investor didn't provide the proper archaeological survey, which he had to do since it is obligatory when it comes to Kalemegdan, was one of the reasons named for the banning the works by the Institute for the monuments protection.][ Clandestine works continued in March 2019.
]
Gondola lift
In August 2017 the construction of the gondola lift
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...
, which would connect Kalemegdan with the neighborhood of Ušće across the Sava, was announced by the city government for 2018. Construction was confirmed in March 2018 when the idea of a pedestrian bridge was dropped after it has been described as "complicated" and "unstable". On the Kalemegdan side, the station will be dug into the hill, below the fortress' Sava Promenade. There is a cave below the projected station, so there is a possibility that the cave will be adapted for visitations and connected to the future gondola station by an elevator. On the Ušćе side, the starting point will be next to the Skate Park, across the Ušće Tower. The entire route is long, of which will be above the Sava river itself. Estimated cost is €10 million and duration of works 18 months, but it is still not known when the construction will begin. Already existing criticism of the project continued, from the officially used name (''gondola'' instead of a traditional Serbian ''žičara'') and chosen location, to the route, especially the Kalemegdan station which is a collapsible locality above the cave, in the area already prone to mass wasting
Mass wasting, also known as mass movement, is a general term for the movement of rock or soil down slopes under the force of gravity. It differs from other processes of erosion in that the debris transported by mass wasting is not entrained in ...
. Park of the Non-Aligned Countries in the neighborhood of Kosančićev Venac
Kosančićev Venac ( sr-Cyrl, Косанчићев Венац) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad, Belgrade, Stari Grad. It has been d ...
was proposed as the better solution.
Cutting of 47 trees in the park, because of the gondola lift began in March 2019. The pine trees were 50 to 60 years old. With an enlarged price of €15 million and unified opposition to the project by the environmentalists, architects and urbanists, with additional cutting of over 100 trees in Ušće park across the river, this prompted popular protests. Citizens organized and as the city was cutting the trees, they were planting new seedlings. Drilling also began and it was announced that the stone wall will be partially demolished, too. Municipality of Stari Grad also organized protests, demolishing fences on the construction site, filing complaints and fines against city and government officials and announcing 24-hours watch on site and demolition of any structure built in the meantime. Construction of the gondola lift is prohibited by the current Belgrade's General Regulatory Plan from 2016 which stipulates that construction of the "cables for the alternative transportation and recreation" is forbidden in the area of the Belgrade Fortress. The project was also opposed by the Serbian branch of the pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra (Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant intern ...
, Serbian Archaeological Society and the History Department of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...
(SANU). In its report, Europa Nostra described the project as controversial, irreversibly compromising for the fortress value, legally questionable, without clear purpose or any proper foundation of the idea. The detailed report, compiled by Hermann Parzinger
Hermann Parzinger is a German historian who is a specialist in the culture of the Scythians. He has been president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 1 March 2008 and the Executive President of Europa Nostra since 2018.
Honours ...
, was delivered to the Serbian government.
Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure issued the permit for preparatory works on 1 April 2019. However, on 17 April 2019, Belgrade's Administrative Court temporarily halted further works citing legality of the construction permits but also saying that gondola lift may have "irreversible repercussions for both the cultural monument and the physical environment
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
" and "damage wider public interests". Deputy mayor Goran Vesić stated that city "respects the court" but that construction will continue anyway. In May 2019, both the Supervisory and the Administrative board of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia conducted investigation, concluding that the permit issued by the institute was not valid as it wasn't issued following the necessary guidelines and protocols and excluding experts in the process. Though stating it will obey the court's decision, the ministry filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
against the decision of the Administrative Court.[ The lawsuit was rejected as the previous ruling of the Administrative Court is a temporary one, not a final decision, so it can't be overturned by the higher court.
Vesić then stated that the gondola will be built, despite the "hysteria of aggressive minority". In an atypically harsh reaction by the SANU addressed specifically to Vesić this time, they responded to "hysterical minority" criticism with listing of over three dozen of national and international organizations who oppose the construction and accused Vesić of misleading, as he always talks about the Kalemegdan Park and not the Belgrade Fortress (which consists of the ormer innerfortress and the park), while the section where the gondola should be dug in is the core of the fortress. The statement concludes with the academy stating that Vesić's reaction "entails us to most firmly oppose to handing over the faith of the historical and cultural monuments, and identities of our cities, to the people whose ambitions and power are in obvious disproportion to their education".
Even though no proper permits have been issued and no work has been done, city already in 2018 paid 267 million dinars (€2.26 million) to the contractor, or 83.5% of the planned investment in the project for 2018, though only 42% of other planned investments were realized. In the 2020 budget, city allocated further €4 million, while Europa Nostra placed the fortress on the list of 14 endangered world heritage localities in Europe, specifically because of the gondola lift project. In March 2020, the fortress was voted one of the Europe's 7 most endangered heritage sites.
In January 2021, Suzana Vasiljević, media advisor to the president of Serbia ]Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012.
Vučić served ...
, said: "President rejoice over gondola. No one can stop him. No one will stop him to finish that project. I know the man". In March 2021, the Administrative Court fully annulled the 2019 permit issued by the Ministry of Construction. In June 2021, during the amending of the city budget, it was obvious that city still plans to go with the project. Vesić stated that the gondola will be built, and the he don't understand the bewilderment about it. New mayor from the same party, Aleksandar Šapić
Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician, and former professional water polo player serving as mayor of Belgrade since 20 June 2022. A member and current vice-president of the Serbi ...
, said in September 2022 that the works will continue if they are "not endangering the heritage of Kalemegdan", and that project is "not expensive anyway".
Government's Anti-Corruption Council in its September 2022 report asked for the project to be dropped, describing it as "against public interest, and as such harmful for Belgrade from numerous aspects". The council concluded that the gondola lift might permanently damage basic values of the fortress and endanger UNESCO nomination, labeling the entire project as a textbook on breaking laws, procedures, planning documents, and rejecting numerous experts' opinions. All this combined points to systemic organized corruption. Though construction didn't start by this point, 155 trees have been cut and city paid the contractor 626 million dinars (€5.3 million) in advance, with further 200.000 (€1.700) in 2023 and 420 million (€3.56 million) in 2024 planned in the city budget.
Little Kalemegdan Park
Little Kalemegdan Park ( sr, / ) or simply Little Kalemegdan ( sr, / , links=no), occupies the area in the eastern section, which borders the urban section of Belgrade. Northern section of Little Kalemegdan Park is occupied by the Belgrade Zoo
Beo zoo vrt ( sr-cyrl, Бео зоо врт), also known as Vrt dobre nade (The Garden of good hope), is a publicly owned zoo located in Kalemegdan Park, downtown of Belgrade, Serbia. Established on July 12, 1936, it is considered to be one of th ...
, opened in 1936. The Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, built in 1928, is also located here.
Amusement Park
An artificial pond, with small island and pedestrian bridges was formed in front of the zoo. It was destroyed during the bombing in 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 ...
.[ In 1958, an ]amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
(''luna park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-sc ...
'') was open on that same location. Its main attraction, the Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
, was installed in 1964. In Serbian called "Panorama", it was produced in the United Kingdom, then transported to Italy, while it arrived in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in the early 1950s. It was exhibited in almost all parts of the country, before it permanently settled in Kalemegdan. In 2013 there were only 6 of its kind in the world. Soon, it became a symbol of the park and Belgrade's counterpart of the Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
's Wiener Riesenrad
The (; 'Vienna Giant errisWheel'), or simply Riesenrad, is a tall Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. It is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, an ...
. When produced, it was the state of the art of its kind. It has a special mechanism which consists of a steel cable and a separate handle which allows for the manual bringing down of the gondolas, in case of power outage.
Wildlife
In October 2019, citizens reported increased number of scorpions in Kalemegdan. Experts explained those are Carpathian scorpions (Euscorpius carpathicus), which are small and, though they can sting, not poisonous for humans. Biologists said that there is no reason for panic, as the number of scorpions is stable and not enlarged, adding that scorpions live in this area for 50 million years, while humans settled some 3,000 years ago.
Protection
On 29 February 1952 city adopted the "Decision on protection, adaptation and maintenance of the people's park of Kalemegdan" which set the borders of the protected areas as the rivers of Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
and 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 ...
and the streets of ''Tadeuša Košćuškog'' and ''Pariska''. In 1962, Belgrade's Institute for the cultural monuments protection expanded the zone to several blocks across the streets. Detailed plan on Kalemegdan from 1965 provided that, despite the immense archaeological value that lies beneath the fortress ground, basically only what was discovered by that time can be explored, restored or protected. That caused the problem both for the expansion of the park but even more for the further exploration of the fortress' underground. Best example is the Lower Town where neither the park fully developed nor the remains of the former port, which was located there, are visible.
Proposed tunnels
When Emilijan Josimović
Emilijan Josimović (Moldova Nouă, Caraș-Severin County, then part of Austrian Empire, 1823 – Sokobanja, 25 May 1897) was a Serbian urban planner who designed the first urban plan of Belgrade at the same time as Cerdà in Barcelona and Georges ...
drafted the first official urban plan for Belgrade in 1867, he envisioned a tunnel below the modern park area. This way, he planned to connect the Sava Port, in Savamala, and the Danube Port, in Dorćol.
In the 20th century, a long tunnel have been proposed along the eastern section of the park for decades. It would actually follow the route of the Pariska Street, between the streets of Gračanička and Uzun Mirkova. This would allow for the ground level to be transformed into the plateau with a fountain, which would make an extension of the pedestrian zone of Knez Mihailova and create a continuous pedestrian zone from the Republic Square and Palace Albania to the park, the fortress and the rivers. It was envisioned by the first phase of the planned Belgrade Metro
The Belgrade Metro ( sr, Београдски метро, Beogradski metro) is a planned rapid transit system in Belgrade, Serbia currently under construction. The construction of the full metro system has been delayed repeatedly, mostly due to ...
, 1973–1982.
A bit longer version, from the Gračanička Street to monument of Rigas Feraios
Rigas Feraios ( el, Ρήγας Φεραίος , sometimes ''Rhegas Pheraeos''; rup, Riga Fereu) or Velestinlis (Βελεστινλής , also transliterated ''Velestinles''); 1757 – 24 June 1798), born as Antonios Rigas Velestinlis ( el ...
in the Tadeuša Košćuškog Street, resurfaced in 2012, in conjunction with the project of connecting the Savamala port and the fortress. In March 2012 it was announced that the construction will start by the end of the year. However, the planners from the 1970s version were against the execution, because they believed that the entire complex can exist only if there are already functioning subway lines, which as of 2018, are still not built. This way, the traffic problems won't be solved. Do to the price, general halt of the subway construction and constant changes in its routes, the project hasn't materialized yet.[
]
Administration
While it was inhabited, Kalemegdan formed one of the quarters in the administrative division of Belgrade. It was called ''Grad'', and translated in the foreign languages as "fortress". According to the censuses, it had a population of 2,219 in 1890, 2,281 in 1895, 2,777 in 1900, 2,396 in 1905 and 454 in 1910. The quarter was abolished on 24 August 1913.
With the neighboring residential area, Kalemegdan formed one of the local communities (''mesna zajednica'', a sub-municipal administrative unit), which had a population of 3,650 in 1981, 3,392 in 1991 and 2,676 in 2002. Municipality of Stari Grad, on whose territory Kalemegdan is located, later abolished local communities.
Gallery
References
External links
{{commons category, Kalemegdan
Parks in Belgrade
Gardens in Serbia
Motorsport venues in Serbia
Stari Grad, Belgrade