Topcider
Encyclopedia
Topčider is a forest park
and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade
, the capital of Serbia
. It is divided between in the municipalities of Čukarica
, Rakovica
and Savski Venac
. Being close to downtown, it is one of the major locations for relaxation, picnics and fresh air for the citizens of Belgrade.
("Topčider Hill") begin already at the Mostarska Petlja
and the highway. The neighborhood of Senjak
is located on the western, and Dedinje
on the right side. This is where the street of Topčiderski Venac and the roundabout
of Topčiderska zvezda ("Topčider star") are located. The southern slopes of the hill extends into the valley of the Topčiderska reka
, a tributary to the Sava river. This is the area identified with the term Topčider. Topčider Park begins five kilometers south of downtown Belgrade and extends west, east and south into the old Topčider woods which itself extend west into the park-wood of Košutnjak. In the upper parts, Košutnjak and Topčider forests grow together, while in the lower parts they are divided by the Topčiderska reka and a railway passing through the river valley (both Košutnjak and Topčider have their own, separate train stations). In the extreme north-west Topčider extends into the neighborhood of Careva Ćuprija
and in the south-east into Lisičji Potok
. It also borders the neighborhood of Kanarevo Brdo
in this section.
times, the valley of Topčiderska reka and the Topčider wood were locations where the Turkish artillery was positioned, intended to defend Belgrade, being distant from the town itself at the time (thus many military barracks to defend the city from later periods, but the town later spawned tens of kilometers further). This is how the area got its name as in Turkish
it means "artillery men's valley" (top, cannon; topçu, artillery man; dere, valley), though it is usually erroneously thought it means simply the cannon valley.
The history of the park itself begins in 1831 when the Prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović started building his personal quarters in the swampy terrain of the Topčider, today one of the major attractions in Belgrade, the famous Milošev konak
. The supervisor of the park's construction was Atanasije Nikolić. The importance which Topčider gained for the city population can be seen from the fact that in 1884 it got its own railway station even though it had no settlement of its own at the time and also one of the very first tram
lines in Belgrade used to connect Terazije and Topčider. In 1926 the park was extended even closer to the city when the forestation of Topčidersko Brdo
began, extending the original woods. International tender which was supposed to reconstruct Topčider by the standards of the then modern urbanism was halted by World War II.
After 1945 city urbanists considered that the way the Topčider-Košutnjak complex had been handled was wrong, especially the expansion of the railway station into the marshalling yard and the construction of Filmski Grad
, so Belgrade's General Urbanistic Plan (GUP) in the 1950s projected the complete removal of the railway objects from the Topčider valley, but that was never executed.
, which are today among the oldest ones in Europe. The biggest and oldest platanus, protected by the state, is 34 meters high and the diameter of the deck is 55 meters, while the shade of its crown
covers an area of 1,400 square meters. Some sources claim it was planted in 1834 when prince Miloš ordered for a seedling
of platanus to be planted in the lime kiln in front of the konak. Other, more reliable sources say the tree was planted in 1868, when 250 seedlings of platanus were bought in Vienna
, Austro-Hungary, for which a receipt still exist today.
Even older is the almost 180-year-old pear tree
, nicknamed kruška topčiderka ("pear of Topčider") According to popular legend, it was planted by prince Miloš a few years after the konak was finished. He wanted to redeem to his wife princess Ljubica because of his frequent infidelities and in front of the pear seedling swore loyalty. It still bears fruits, so attempts are being made to produce its seedling in the greenhouse
. The pear is surrounded by five pedunculate oak
, all of which are over 100 years old.
Topčider was the first public park outside the central city area. Today it covers an area (with the Topčider and Košutnjak woods) of 3.46 km². Many other monuments are centered around the konak: the binjektaš stone ("hopping stone") which prince Miloš used to jump on a horse, the Museum of the First Serbian Uprising
(in the konak itself), three public drinking fountains with an additional fourth one with lion's heads which was temporarily moved here, but restored in 1976 and returned to its original location in Terazije
, and the stone obelisk
erected in 1859, one of the first public monuments in Belgrade. A bronze monument to the Swiss doctor and philanthropist Archibald Reiss
(by Marko Brežanin) was erected in 1931.
of Saint Trifun) and the Banknotes printing office (Zavod za izradu novčanica), that is, the mint
of the National Bank of Serbia
. In the western section, bordering with Dedinje is Beli Dvor
, a court of the Serbian former royal dynasty Karađorđević and the present residence of the pretender Aleksandar Karađorđević
and his family.
with this part of the city and hopefully solve many car traffic problems in Belgrade. Some environmental groups protested against this project, but the constructing of this tunnel still hasn't progressed further than the idea stage. During the summer of 2007, a general planning idea will be chosen by a tender held by the city government, and it remains to be seen if this plan wil contain a solution for park preservation.
In October 2004, two young guards, Dragan Jakovljević and Dražen Milovanović, were found shot dead under highly mysterious circumstances. The first official army report stated that the two guards got into a fight; one got shot, and the other one committed suicide. The investigation was so obviously sloppy (videos were made public of investigators walking all over the non-secured crime scene, not using any precaution measures or security protocols, etc) to the point of absurdity, including the notorious statement of then military prosecutor Vuk Tufegdžić who stated that no DNA tests were done because DNA is an "overrated thing" and that "people watch TV too much". Because of the serious rumours and intense public pressure, a more thorough investigation was initiated, this time headed by Božo Prelević, former interior minister of Serbia. His commission concluded that the two soldiers were shot by a third party but the exact situation has never been clarified, except that the commission reject almost all findings of the first, internal military investigation. Not having any solid evidence or conclusions, it is widely suggested by the press that the two guards were the witnesses of either a high-profile indictee (as it was suggested at the time, Ratko Mladić
) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
, who was supposedly hiding in the undergrounds of the Topčider complex, or some criminal activities, like smuggling.
Forest Park
-Towns and villages:*Forest Park, Ontario, Canada*Forest Park, Georgia, USA*Forest Park, Illinois, USA*Forest Park, Ohio, Hamilton county, Ohio, USA*Forest Park, Ottawa County, Ohio, USA*Forest Park, Oklahoma, USA...
and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade
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 divided between in the municipalities of Čukarica
Cukarica
Čukarica is an urban neighborhood and one of the 17 municipalities than constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Neighbourhoods :...
, Rakovica
Rakovica, Belgrade
Rakovica is an urban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
and Savski Venac
Savski Venac
Savski Venac is one of 17 urban municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Savski Venac is one of the three municipalities that constitute the very center of the city .-Location:Savski Venac is located on the right bank of the Sava river...
. Being close to downtown, it is one of the major locations for relaxation, picnics and fresh air for the citizens of Belgrade.
Location
Geographically, Topčider covers a much larger area than what people generally refer to as Topčider today. The eastern slopes of Topčidersko BrdoTopcidersko Brdo
Topčidersko Brdo is an urban neighborhood and former municipality of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac.- Location :...
("Topčider Hill") begin already at the Mostarska Petlja
Mostarska Petlja
Mostar interchange or colloquially Mostar is a major interchange and a surrounding urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac....
and the highway. The neighborhood of Senjak
Senjak
Senjak is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. Located in Savski Venac, one of the three municipalities that constitute the very center of the city, it is an affluent and distinguished neighborhood lavished with embassies, diplomatic residences, and mansions...
is located on the western, and Dedinje
Dedinje
Dedinje is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac...
on the right side. This is where the street of Topčiderski Venac and the roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
of Topčiderska zvezda ("Topčider star") are located. The southern slopes of the hill extends into the valley of the Topčiderska reka
Topciderska reka
The Topčiderska Reka or colloquially Topčiderka is a river in north-central Serbia, a 30 km-long right tribtuary to the Sava river to which it flows in the urban section of Belgrade...
, a tributary to the Sava river. This is the area identified with the term Topčider. Topčider Park begins five kilometers south of downtown Belgrade and extends west, east and south into the old Topčider woods which itself extend west into the park-wood of Košutnjak. In the upper parts, Košutnjak and Topčider forests grow together, while in the lower parts they are divided by the Topčiderska reka and a railway passing through the river valley (both Košutnjak and Topčider have their own, separate train stations). In the extreme north-west Topčider extends into the neighborhood of Careva Ćuprija
Careva Cuprija
Careva Ćuprija is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica....
and in the south-east into Lisičji Potok
Lisicji Potok
Lisičji Potok is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac.-Location:Lisičji Potok is located in the eastern section of the municipality...
. It also borders the neighborhood of Kanarevo Brdo
Kanarevo Brdo
Kanarevo Brdo is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.-Location:...
in this section.
History
During OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
times, the valley of Topčiderska reka and the Topčider wood were locations where the Turkish artillery was positioned, intended to defend Belgrade, being distant from the town itself at the time (thus many military barracks to defend the city from later periods, but the town later spawned tens of kilometers further). This is how the area got its name as in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
it means "artillery men's valley" (top, cannon; topçu, artillery man; dere, valley), though it is usually erroneously thought it means simply the cannon valley.
The history of the park itself begins in 1831 when the Prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović started building his personal quarters in the swampy terrain of the Topčider, today one of the major attractions in Belgrade, the famous Milošev konak
Konak
Konak can refer to:* Konak , a large house, a mansion in Turkey, possibly also fulfilling administrative functions, such as a governor's mansion* Konak, İzmir, a district of İzmir Province, Turkey, central district of İzmir metropolitan area...
. The supervisor of the park's construction was Atanasije Nikolić. The importance which Topčider gained for the city population can be seen from the fact that in 1884 it got its own railway station even though it had no settlement of its own at the time and also one of the very first tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
lines in Belgrade used to connect Terazije and Topčider. In 1926 the park was extended even closer to the city when the forestation of Topčidersko Brdo
Topcidersko Brdo
Topčidersko Brdo is an urban neighborhood and former municipality of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac.- Location :...
began, extending the original woods. International tender which was supposed to reconstruct Topčider by the standards of the then modern urbanism was halted by World War II.
After 1945 city urbanists considered that the way the Topčider-Košutnjak complex had been handled was wrong, especially the expansion of the railway station into the marshalling yard and the construction of Filmski Grad
Filmski Grad
Filmski Grad is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica....
, so Belgrade's General Urbanistic Plan (GUP) in the 1950s projected the complete removal of the railway objects from the Topčider valley, but that was never executed.
Monuments
A stone church, inn and military complex were also constructed. Planting of trees also began, mostly platanusPlatanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
, which are today among the oldest ones in Europe. The biggest and oldest platanus, protected by the state, is 34 meters high and the diameter of the deck is 55 meters, while the shade of its crown
Crown (botany)
The crown of a plant refers to the totality of the plant's aboveground parts, including stems, leaves, and reproductive structures. A plant canopy consists of one or more plant crowns growing in a given area....
covers an area of 1,400 square meters. Some sources claim it was planted in 1834 when prince Miloš ordered for a seedling
Seedling
thumb|Monocot and dicot seedlingsA seedling is a young plant sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle , the hypocotyl , and the cotyledons...
of platanus to be planted in the lime kiln in front of the konak. Other, more reliable sources say the tree was planted in 1868, when 250 seedlings of platanus were bought in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austro-Hungary, for which a receipt still exist today.
Even older is the almost 180-year-old pear tree
Pear Tree
Pear Tree is an inner city suburb of Derby, England. It is situated next to the areas of Normanton, Rose Hill and Osmaston. Pear Tree could be described as a suburb within a suburb because the people of Derby would identify it as an area in its own right, but it could also be described as forming...
, nicknamed kruška topčiderka ("pear of Topčider") According to popular legend, it was planted by prince Miloš a few years after the konak was finished. He wanted to redeem to his wife princess Ljubica because of his frequent infidelities and in front of the pear seedling swore loyalty. It still bears fruits, so attempts are being made to produce its seedling in the greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
. The pear is surrounded by five pedunculate oak
Pedunculate Oak
Quercus robur is commonly known as the Pedunculate Oak or English oak. It is native to most of Europe, and to Anatolia to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa.-Taxonomy:Q...
, all of which are over 100 years old.
Topčider was the first public park outside the central city area. Today it covers an area (with the Topčider and Košutnjak woods) of 3.46 km². Many other monuments are centered around the konak: the binjektaš stone ("hopping stone") which prince Miloš used to jump on a horse, the Museum of the First Serbian Uprising
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising was the first stage of the Serbian Revolution , the successful wars of independence that lasted for 9 years and approximately 9 months , during which Serbia perceived itself as an independent state for the first time after more than three centuries of Ottoman rule and...
(in the konak itself), three public drinking fountains with an additional fourth one with lion's heads which was temporarily moved here, but restored in 1976 and returned to its original location in Terazije
Terazije
Terazije is the central square and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :...
, and the stone obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
erected in 1859, one of the first public monuments in Belgrade. A bronze monument to the Swiss doctor and philanthropist Archibald Reiss
Archibald Reiss
Dr. Archibald Rudolph Reiss was a publicist, a chemist, a professor at the University of Lausanne and a famous forensic scientist....
(by Marko Brežanin) was erected in 1931.
Other features
The northern section of Topčider is the location of the Topčider cemetery (with the Orthodox churchSerbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
of Saint Trifun) and the Banknotes printing office (Zavod za izradu novčanica), that is, the mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
of the National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia is the central bank of Serbia; its main responsibilities are the protection of price stability and maintenance of financial stability....
. In the western section, bordering with Dedinje is Beli Dvor
Beli Dvor
Beli Dvor is a mansion located in Belgrade, Serbia. The mansion is part of the Royal Compound, a real estate of royal residences and parklands located in Dedinje, an exclusive area of Belgrade....
, a court of the Serbian former royal dynasty Karađorđević and the present residence of the pretender Aleksandar Karađorđević
Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
Alexander II Karadjordjevic, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia , is the former crown prince of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the head of the House of Karadjordjevic. Alexander is the only child of former King Peter II of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark...
and his family.
Traffic
There are threats of destroying certain parts of the park because the government is planning to build a tunnel in this area which will connect AutokomandaAutokomanda
Autokomanda is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located on the tripoint of the Belgrade's municipalities of Voždovac, Savski Venac and Vračar.- Location :...
with this part of the city and hopefully solve many car traffic problems in Belgrade. Some environmental groups protested against this project, but the constructing of this tunnel still hasn't progressed further than the idea stage. During the summer of 2007, a general planning idea will be chosen by a tender held by the city government, and it remains to be seen if this plan wil contain a solution for park preservation.
Lisičji Potok
The easternmost section of Topčider is a heavily wooded area, so the expansion of the neighborhood of Lisičji Potok was limited. In the early 2000s, due to the political changes which caused a vacuum in all levels of government, private entrepreneurs without gaining regular permits cut down over 1,000 trees in the Topčider woods for the purpose of constructing vast apartment complexes.Topčider incident
The vast secret military complex of "Karaš" (in Teodora Drajzera street) was built and dug into the hill from 1965 to 1980, with numerous barracks and kilometers of underground passages.In October 2004, two young guards, Dragan Jakovljević and Dražen Milovanović, were found shot dead under highly mysterious circumstances. The first official army report stated that the two guards got into a fight; one got shot, and the other one committed suicide. The investigation was so obviously sloppy (videos were made public of investigators walking all over the non-secured crime scene, not using any precaution measures or security protocols, etc) to the point of absurdity, including the notorious statement of then military prosecutor Vuk Tufegdžić who stated that no DNA tests were done because DNA is an "overrated thing" and that "people watch TV too much". Because of the serious rumours and intense public pressure, a more thorough investigation was initiated, this time headed by Božo Prelević, former interior minister of Serbia. His commission concluded that the two soldiers were shot by a third party but the exact situation has never been clarified, except that the commission reject almost all findings of the first, internal military investigation. Not having any solid evidence or conclusions, it is widely suggested by the press that the two guards were the witnesses of either a high-profile indictee (as it was suggested at the time, Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
, who was supposedly hiding in the undergrounds of the Topčider complex, or some criminal activities, like smuggling.
See also
- BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade 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...
- Spatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great ImportanceSpatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great Importance (Serbia)Spatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great Importance are the monuments in the Republic of Serbia that have the second level of the State protection.Those are part of the Cultural Property of Great Importance protection list.- Further reading :...