Straževica
Encyclopedia
Straževica is a hill and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade
, the capital of Serbia
. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica
. The area was the most heavily bombed part of Belgrade during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999
.
, Kijevo, and on all sides of the hill already developed separate neighborhoods: Kneževac
on the north, Jelezovac
on the west, Sunčani Breg
, Resnik and Kijevo
on the south and Labudovo Brdo
on the east.
in war times), the area was heavily bombarded in 1999, almost on daily basis, including some of the largest bombs available at that time (up to 3 tons), which used to shake the entire Belgrade. However, as the underground complex is projected to sustain the force of 20 kilotons, the military facility was intact as it wasn't damaged at all. It is dug underground several hundred meters into the granite
terrain with 10 tons-heavy steel doors and includes bio, chemical and radiology filters, working and sleeping premises, depots, etc, plus the radar antenna on the top of the hill . However, some other neighborhoods in the vicinity (most notably Rakovica and Miljakovac
) suffered heavy collateral damage from the bombing, while the settlement of Straževica was almost completely destroyed or damaged for the most part, including the Rakovica monastery.
However, the complex is dangerously close to the Kijevo quarry which became operating in 1974. In 1987 the borders of the quarry were set so that it wouldn't endanger the military complex, but the quarry was spreading more and more and in 2006 the army appealed to the government to stop the quarry's growth which resulted in the Ministry of the mining's request to the quarry management to stop the works and restore the area outside of the 1987 borders. However, the new owner of the quarry, Italian company of "Adige Bitumi" continued the works, causing damages to the complex with the underground explosions.
-Bubanj Potok
) was dug in January 2007 and the digging of the second lane is to begin soon. Digging of the tunnel began in 1990 but was halted in 1996 and then resumed in September 2004. As the regulations of the European Union
do not allow for highways to go right through the middle of the cities' urban tissue (which is the case with the Pan-European corridor X in Belgrade), Serbian government got 3 years to finish the 37 kilometers long beltway, but it apparently will not be completed before 2012.
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, the capital of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica
Rakovica, Belgrade
Rakovica is an urban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
. The area was the most heavily bombed part of Belgrade during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999
Legitimacy of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The legitimacy of the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been subject to question by many bodies and individuals from the time of the action continuing to this day. The key basis governing the legality of any act of war is international law...
.
Location
Straževica is located in the central part of the neighborhood, on the hill of the same name. The neighborhood is small and undeveloped, as the most of the hill is turned into a Belgrade's most important quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
, Kijevo, and on all sides of the hill already developed separate neighborhoods: Kneževac
Kneževac
Κneževac is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.-Location:Κneževac is located in the central part of the municipality...
on the north, Jelezovac
Jelezovac
Jelezovac is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica....
on the west, Sunčani Breg
Suncani Breg
Sunčani Breg is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica....
, Resnik and Kijevo
Kijevo, Belgrade
Kijevo is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.-Location:...
on the south and Labudovo Brdo
Labudovo Brdo
Labudovo Brdo is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.- Location :...
on the east.
Military complex
As underground Yugoslav military facilities are located here ("Kneževac" underground joint chiefs of staffJoint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
in war times), the area was heavily bombarded in 1999, almost on daily basis, including some of the largest bombs available at that time (up to 3 tons), which used to shake the entire Belgrade. However, as the underground complex is projected to sustain the force of 20 kilotons, the military facility was intact as it wasn't damaged at all. It is dug underground several hundred meters into the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
terrain with 10 tons-heavy steel doors and includes bio, chemical and radiology filters, working and sleeping premises, depots, etc, plus the radar antenna on the top of the hill . However, some other neighborhoods in the vicinity (most notably Rakovica and Miljakovac
Miljakovac
Miljakovac is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.-Location:...
) suffered heavy collateral damage from the bombing, while the settlement of Straževica was almost completely destroyed or damaged for the most part, including the Rakovica monastery.
However, the complex is dangerously close to the Kijevo quarry which became operating in 1974. In 1987 the borders of the quarry were set so that it wouldn't endanger the military complex, but the quarry was spreading more and more and in 2006 the army appealed to the government to stop the quarry's growth which resulted in the Ministry of the mining's request to the quarry management to stop the works and restore the area outside of the 1987 borders. However, the new owner of the quarry, Italian company of "Adige Bitumi" continued the works, causing damages to the complex with the underground explosions.
Transportation
The first lane of the "Straževica tunnel", a 745 meters long part of the projected Belgrade's outer beltway (DobanovciDobanovci
Dobanovci is an suburban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Surčin....
-Bubanj Potok
Bubanj Potok
Bubanj Potok is a non-residential suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac.-Location:...
) was dug in January 2007 and the digging of the second lane is to begin soon. Digging of the tunnel began in 1990 but was halted in 1996 and then resumed in September 2004. As the regulations of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
do not allow for highways to go right through the middle of the cities' urban tissue (which is the case with the Pan-European corridor X in Belgrade), Serbian government got 3 years to finish the 37 kilometers long beltway, but it apparently will not be completed before 2012.
