Sopot ( sr-Cyrl, Сопот, ) 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 ...

. According to the 2022 census results, the town has a population of 1,956 inhabitants while the municipality has 19,126 inhabitants.

Location

Sopot is located on the slopes of the

Kosmaj Kosmaj (Serbian Cyrillic: Космај, ) is a mountain south of Belgrade. With an elevation of 626 meters, it is the highest point of the entire Belgrade City area and is nicknamed one of two "Belgrade mountains" (the other being the mountain o ...

mountain, south of Belgrade. The mountain is some away from the town.

History

The area has remains from Roman period. There is a masonry drinking fountain in Sopot, for which the Roman stones from some now disappeared structure were used. The name of Sopot is derived from the

old Slavic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-Europea ...

word for water spring (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

: ''izvor'').(

cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin or , both meaning 'compare') is generally used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. However some sources offer differing or even contr ...

Sopotnica). The word itself is onomatopoeic of the water sound flowing out of the spring. There are numerous springs and short creeks and streams in the area. The village was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1818. In 1823, Serbian ruling prince

Miloš Obrenović Miloš Obrenović (; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović (; ), also known as Miloš the Great () was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the Firs ...

ordered for the ''

meyhane A ''meyhane'' or ''pothouse'' (from ) is a traditional restaurant or bar (establishment), bar in Turkey, Balkans, Azerbaijan and Iran. It serves alcoholic beverages like wine, rakı, vodka, or beer, with meze and traditional foods. Etymology ...

'' to be built on the road which through Sopot was heading for Belgrade. The tavern was known as ''šindralija'' type, because it was roofed by ''šindra'', or shingle. In 1830, huts for the travelers to Belgrade were built around it, expanding effectivelly the venue into the

khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

. It remains the oldest structure in the town and today hosts the Heritage Museum. There is a small park in front of it, through which flows one of many streams. In 1893, Sopot was declared a small town (''varošica'') by the royal decree. In October 2019, the village of Ropočevo was officially abolished and its territory was annexed to the town of Sopot.

Characteristics

Since 1972, an annual film festival "Sofest" has been held in Sopot. It is held in July, in the town's Culture Hall. At the town's center are the Municipal Hall surrounded by the lush greenery, a fountain, and a monument to World War I combatant Đura Prokić. After the festival, there are several other monuments inspired by the motion pictures. Large number of weekend houses was built throughout the municipality since the 1970s, by the residents of Belgrade. The town is also a trade center, with well known farmers market, with local goods which includes peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables and fruits. Hilly areas on Kosmaj are covered with forests of oak, beech and common hornbeam. Monasteries of Tresije, Pavlovac and Kasteljan (in ruins), are local tourist attractions. The stone church of Saint Peter and Paul is located in the village of

Nemenikuće Nemenikuće ( sr-cyrl, Неменикуће) is a village in the Sopot, Serbia, Sopot City Municipality, City municipality, in the suburban area of Belgrade, Serbia. It had a population of 1833 by the 2022 census. It is located on the slopes of ...

. In the churchyard there are six

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, estimated to originate from between 1600 and 1650. Being on the access road to Belgrade, Sopot had numerous restaurants and ''

kafana Kafana is a type of local coffeehouse, bistro or tavern, common in the countries of Southeast Europe, which originally served coffee and other warm drinks while today usually also offer alcoholic beverages and food. Many kafanas feature live mus ...

s'', and earned a moniker of a settlement with largest number of ''kafanas'' per capita. Nowadays, the municipality has a large Primary and Economics high school. Sopot has a soccer club called the ''Wolves from Kosmaj'' and a basketball club bearing the same name.

Settlements

Aside from the town of Sopot, the following settlements comprise the municipality: * Babe * Guberevac * Dučina * Drlupa * Đurinci * Mala Ivanča * Mali Požarevac * Nemenikuće * Parcani * Popović * Ralja * Rogača * Sibnica * Slatina * Stojnik

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Sopot has a population of 20,367 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022): There are two game hunting grounds in the municipality: Trešnja, which extends into the Voždovac municipality, and

, on the mountain of the same name.

Gallery

File:Wiki Šumadija IX Sopot, Belgrade 180.jpg, Sopot town center File:Dom kulture Sopot.jpg, Dom kulture Sopot File:Sopot - Stari han 01.jpg, "Stari han" Sopot File:Wiki Šumadija IX Sopot, Belgrade 163.jpg, ''Economics High School'' File:Monastery Tresije.JPG, Monastery Tresije

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Belgrade Suburbs of Belgrade Šumadija