Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) 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 municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants.
The municipality is located in the south-central part of the urban area of Belgrade and in the central section of the wider Belgrade City area. It stretches meridionally (north to south) for almost , spreading to the south more than any other
municipality of Belgrade. Due to its shape, it borders more municipalities than any other:
Vračar
Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...
on the north,
Zvezdara on the north-east,
Grocka
Grocka ( sr-cyr, Гроцка, ) or Grocka na Dunavu ( sr-cyr, Гроцка на Дунаву, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has 82,810 inhabitants.
L ...
on the east,
Sopot on the south,
Barajevo
Barajevo ( sr-Cyrl, Барајево, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 26,431 inhabitants.
The municipality is located in the lower northern part of Šumadija ...
on the south-west,
Čukarica
Čukarica ( sr-cyr, Чукарица, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade, Serbia.
Name
Like several other neighborhoods of Belgrade, Čukarica was named after a kafana. At the present location of the Sugar Refin ...
and
Rakovica on the west and
Savski Venac on the north-west.
History
The municipality of Voždovac originates from 1904. In 1945 Belgrade was divided into districts (''rejon'') and Voždovac became part of District VI. In 1952 the districts were abolished and the municipalities re-established. Municipality of Pašino Brdo was annexed to Voždovac on September 1, 1955 and today makes its northernmost part. The municipality was territorially shaped in the early 1960s when the municipality of Ripanj was added to Voždovac (the village of
Veliki Mokri Lug was later detached and annexed to the municipality of Zvezdara). However, shaped this way, the elongated municipality causes problem to the inhabitants of its southern part as they have to travel over to the municipal assembly. There is an idea of separating suburban settlements (Beli Potok, Pinosava, Zuce, Ripanj) and creating new sub-Avalan municipality (
Avalski Venac), with the village of
Vrčin
Vrčin (Serbian language, Serbian Cyrillic: Врчин) is a List of Belgrade neighborhoods, suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Grocka.
Name
Historians Dušan J. Popović and Vladimir Ćorovi� ...
in the municipality of Grocka but no official move has been done so far in that direction.
Geography
The municipality is located in the northern section of the
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 ("Low Šumadija"). The southern part covers the northern section of the woods of
Lipovička šuma and roughly corresponds to the valley of the
Topčiderka river which flows between the
Pinosava and
Ripanj
Ripanj ( sr-Cyrl, Рипањ) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac. It has a distinction of being "the largest village of Serbia" taking in account its number of population, but also b ...
plateaux. The central area is occupied by one of two "Belgrade" mountains, the -high
Avala
Avala ( sr-cyr, Авала, ) is a List of mountains in Serbia, mountain in Serbia, overlooking Belgrade. It is situated in the south-eastern corner of the city and provides a great panoramic view of Belgrade, Vojvodina and Šumadija, as the sur ...
(the other one being
Kosmaj). In the northern, urban section, Voždovac covers several of the 32 hills on which Belgrade is built, including
Torlak
Torlakian, or Torlak, is a group of transitional South Slavic dialects spoken across southeastern Serbia, southern and eastern Kosovo, northwestern and northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgar ...
and
Pašino Brdo.
Apart from Topčiderka, numerous smaller rivers and intermittent creeks flow in the northern part of the municipality: Zavojnička reka, Vranovac, Milošev potok,
Bubanj Potok, Kamena voda, Lipica, Drenjak, Kumodraški potok and parts of
Rakovički potok,
Bolečica and
Jelezovac. The spring and the valley of the former
Mokroluški Potok (now mostly conducted underground) is also located in the municipality. Despite having large wooded areas in the non-urban section (slopes of Avala, northern part of Lipovička šuma,
Stepin Lug/
Gaj), the urban area has only one real park,
Šumice.
Settlements
The municipality of Voždovac has both urban neighborhoods of the Belgrade City proper (''uža teritorija grada'') and separate, suburban settlements in the Belgrade City Metro area.
''Urban:''
'' Suburban towns:''
*
Beli Potok
*
Pinosava
'' Suburban rural:''
*
Bubanj Potok
*
Gaj
*
Selo Kumodraž
*
Ripanj
Ripanj ( sr-Cyrl, Рипањ) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac. It has a distinction of being "the largest village of Serbia" taking in account its number of population, but also b ...
*
Stepin Lug
*
Šuplja Stena
*
Zuce
''
Neighborhoods of Ripanj:''
Demographics
The massive population growth was halted in the late 1980s, despite still growing settlements on the southern and south-eastern outskirts of Belgrade. Still, with , Voždovac is still densely populated, especially concerning large unurbanized areas in the south. Population of Voždovac according to the official census of population (since 1991 a new methodology is used):
Ethnic groups
The ethnic composition of the municipality:
Administration
Presidents of the municipality:
* 1952–1955: Nikola Stepanović (b.1916)
* 1955–1956: Vučko Ivković (b.1913)
* 1956–1965: Petar Kolundžija
* 1965–1973: Zoran Nastić
* 1973–1978: Munir Lasić (d.2013)
* 1978–1982: Dragomir Marić
* 1982–1986: Borislav Kuzmanović
* 1986–1988: Milorad Leković
* 1988–1991: Zoran Višnjić
* 1991–1992: Zoran Antonić (b.1934, d.2009)
* 1992–1994: Božidar Simatković
* 1994–1996:
Zoran Modrinić (b.1947)
* 1997–October 12, 2000:
Nebojša Atanacković (b.1943)
* October 12, 2000 – December 9, 2004: Stevan Radović (b.1940)
* December 9, 2004 – January 27, 2010: Goran Lukačević (b.1966)
* January 27, 2010 – January 31, 2014: Dragan Vukanić (b.1956)
* January 31, 2014 – September 4, 2020: Aleksandar Savić (b.1971)
* September 4, 2020 – present: Ivana Ilić-Tomić (b. 1982)
Neighborhood
Location
The neighborhood of Voždovac is located south of downtown Belgrade, on a hill in the northern part of the municipality. Three long, more or less parallel streets shape the neighborhood into an elongated form in the north-west to south-east direction: western border is marked by Bulevar Oslobođenja (Boulevard of Liberation), which also makes the border to the municipality of
Savski Venac, eastern by Kumodraška Street, while Vojvode Stepe Street stretches in between. Due to its shape, Voždovac borders many other neighborhoods:
Autokomanda to the north,
Diplomatska Kolonija on the north-west,
Banjica (and
Banjica Forest) on the west,
Trošarina and
Banjica II on the south-west,
Kumodraž (its sub-neighborhoods of
Kumodraž II and
Torlak
Torlakian, or Torlak, is a group of transitional South Slavic dialects spoken across southeastern Serbia, southern and eastern Kosovo, northwestern and northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgar ...
) on the south,
Braće Jerković II and
Mitrovo Brdo on the south-east,
Braće Jerković
Braće Jerković or colloquially Jerković ( sr-cyr, Браће Јерковић or Јерковић; ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac.
Location
Braće Jerkovi ...
on the east and
Dušanovac on the north-east.
Name and history
Name Voždovac is derived from the word ''vožd'' meaning ''leader'' (literally, a "duke", "supreme
vojvoda"), one of the titles used by the
Karađorđe Petrović, the leader of the
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...
. He also commanded the liberation of Belgrade from the
Turks in 1806, and on the very spot from where he started that operation today stands a Church of the
Saint Emperor Constantine and
Helena, popularly called the Voždovac Church (''Voždovačka crkva''). The spot he has chosen was outside of the "Laudan's trench", too distant for the Turks inside the trench to notice the Serbian fighters gathering but close enough to take the chargeon the trench.
Unofficial name, ''Voždovo predgrađe'', Vožd's Suburb, was recorded after 1903, after the Karađorđević dynasty was restored on Serbian throne.
After the liberation in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1918, Voždovac was placed under the Belgrade's administrative rule. A string of new neighborhoods encircled eastern outskirts of Belgrade, with names usually containing "suburb" and some member of the
royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family.
The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...
. These original names either never became popular or were suppressed after World War II and replaced. The inspiration for the design of the neighborhoods came from the 1912 complex built along the in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. It consisted of 40 one-floor houses with gardens, indented from the main street. Settlement that subsequently developed was known as
Činovnička Kolonija (Clerk's colony). Still operational elementary school "Branislav Nušić" was built in 1935 and the neighborhood was officially named "Predgrađe Kraljice Marije" or Queen Maria's Suburb, after the
dowager queen Maria of Yugoslavia
Maria (born Princess Maria of Romania; 6 January 1900 – 22 June 1961), known in Serbian as Marija Karađorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Марија Карађорђевић), was Queen of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1922 to 1929 and Queen of Yu ...
. Later, inhabitants colloquially began to use name Voždovac which spread and was adopted as the official name.
From June 1945 to December 1946, Voždovac was one of 5 administrative neighborhoods within Belgrade’s
Raion
A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...
VI.
Characteristics
Originally a residential area, as the neighborhood was growing and stretching to the south, it developed different features. The south-western extension to Torlak, along the ''Vojvode Stepe'' street, developed almost rural look, while the southern extension into the Kumodraž II is turned into one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the "Old Belgrade". The western area, along the Boulevard of Liberation became somewhat of an elite neighborhood. Three faculties of the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
are located in the neighborhood: Management (FON), Political sciences (FPN) and Transportation. Population of the neighborhood was 22,516 in 2002 and 23,153 in 2011.
The , colloquially called the Voždovac Church, is one of the neighborhood's landmarks. It was damaged during World War I, but was reconstructed by 1926. Reconstruction design was drafted by architect , who also designed a new, larger church, which replaced the old one. The new church was opened on 1 December 1970. Icons were painted by
Milić od Mačve, in the atypical manner, ignoring any schematism or traditional style.
Clergy house
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
was consecrated in 2011. Interior painting was done by Vojislav Luković.
[
''Vojvode Stepe'' street is one of the main traffic routes in this part of Belgrade. What was announced as a massive reconstruction of the street began in July 2014 and lasted to July 2015. The original project, which envisioned the work in phases which would allow for the partial usage of the street, was soon abandoned as the company which done the reconstruction, "Ratko Mitrоvić", started getting late even during the preparation stage so they simply closed the entire street. Also, it turned out that it is not the full reconstruction, as the underground installations weren't replaced. Closing of the street caused massive disturbance of the traffic in this part of the city and economic damage to the stores and craftshops along the street. "Ratko Mitrović" asked for an extension of 72 days, but was granted 20 days by the city, to which they allegedly complied. However, after the street was officially open by the ]Mayor of Belgrade
The mayor of Belgrade () is the head of the City of Belgrade (the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia). The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an Executive (government), executive function in th ...
Siniša Mali, the works continued for weeks. Also, the completed job was of a low quality: badly projected pathways for the visually impaired, parts of the sidewalks, drains, etc. Since the first rains, a pond would form at the bottom end of the street. Mali accused the previous city administration for the "bad contract", but he was already heading the city for 9 months when the works began. He also threatened the "Ratko Mitrović" that they will be fined for the delays, but instead granted them the extension of the deadline and the city hired the same company for further projects.
Economy
Suburban parts of the municipality are mostly agricultural, but the urban section has a large industrial zone, one of the largest in the city, mostly along the ''Kumodraška'' street. It comprises the factories of ''Vatrosprem'', ''Tunelogradnja'', ''Soko Štark'', ''Napred'', ''Montaža'', ''Ratko Mitrović'', etc. Some facilities of the Belgrade's Communal Company and of Electricity company (EDB) are located in the neighborhood of Marinkova Bara, along the highway. A small center of the building companies and cement plants is growing along Bubanj Potok.
Administrative center of the municipality is located in Dušanovac, along the ''Ustanička'' street. It encompasses the building of the Municipal assembly, the police and fire station, the local clinical-ambulance center, the Fifth Municipal Court of Belgrade and the Special section of the Supreme court of Serbia for organized crime and war crimes (formerly the Supreme Military Court of Yugoslavia).
The Belgrade-Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
highway passes through the northern and eastern parts of the municipality while the road of ''Kružni put'' (and the projected Belgrade beltway
The Belgrade bypass () or Belgrade city road bypass is a U-shaped, 78-km long motorway partially encircling the city of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
The construction of the bypass started in 1991 and its parts have been sporadically built e ...
) goes through the central parts, including the junction of two roads and tollbooth
A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a Toll (fee), toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll p ...
on Bubanj Potok, which marks the entrance into the Belgrade City proper. A railway also goes through the municipality, parallel to the ''Kružni put''.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):
Sports
FK Voždovac
Fudbalski klub Voždovac () is a professional football club based in Voždovac, Belgrade, Serbia, which competes in the Serbian First League, the second tier.
Nicknamed "The Dragons", they experienced little success in the Yugoslavian era, but h ...
are the neighbourhood team with significant local support. They play at the Voždovac Stadium. Rad are biggest club from Voždovac municipality 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 ...
, with biggest tradition off all local clubs, and played in European UEFA Competitions
UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...
. Rad played in Yugoslav top league in the 1980s.
International cooperation
Voždovac is twinned with following cities and municipalities:
''Stalna konferencija gradova i opština''. Retrieved on 2007-06-18.
*
Šempeter-Vrtojba, Šempeter,
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
And has signed friendship charters with following cities and municipalities:
*
Drežnica,
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
*
Milići,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
*
Nea Penteli,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
*
Ogulin,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
*
Pula
Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
See also
*
Subdivisions of Belgrade
Serbia's capital city of Belgrade is divided into 17 municipality, municipalities.
Most of the Municipalities of Serbia, municipalities are situated on the southern side of the Danube and Sava rivers, in the Šumadija region. Three municipaliti ...
*
List of Belgrade neighborhoods and suburbs
References
Sources
* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1986); Prosveta;
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;
External links
*
{{Authority control
Neighborhoods of Belgrade
Municipalities of Belgrade