Savski Venac

Savski Venac Савски Венац (Serbian)
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Savski Venac within the city of Belgrade
Coordinates: 44°41′N 20°24′E
Country	Serbia
City	Belgrade
Status	Municipality
Settlements	1
Government
• Type	Municipality of Belgrade
• Mun. president	Miloš Vidović (SNS)
Area
• Total	14.07 km2 (5.43 sq mi)
Population  (2022)
• Total	36,699
• Density	2,600/km2 (6,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	11000
Area code	+381(0)11
Car plates	BG
Website	www.savskivenac.rs

Savski Venac (Serbian Cyrillic: Савски Венац, pronounced [sâːv̞skiː v̞ě̞ːnat͡s]) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 36,699 inhabitants.

It is one of the three municipalities which constitute the very center of Belgrade, together with Stari Grad and Vračar.

Savski Venac is located on the right bank of the Sava river. It stretches in the north-south direction for 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) (from downtown Belgrade, just 200 meters (660 ft) from Terazije, to Banjica) and east-west direction for 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) (from Senjak and the Sava bank to Autokomanda). It borders the municipalities of Stari Grad to the north, Vračar to the north-east, Voždovac to the east, Rakovica to the south and Čukarica to the west.

History and name

See also: Zapadni Vračar

While Savski Venac and Stari Grad are often styled the oldest municipalities of Belgrade due to their inclusion of the oldest sections of urban Belgrade outside the walls of the Kalemegdan fortress, they are actually the most recently created municipalities of Belgrade. Both were formed in 1957 by merger of older, smaller municipalities; Savski Venac was formed in by merger of the municipalities of Zapadni Vračar (its main predecessor) and Topčidersko Brdo and a new, geographical name, Savski Venac, was coined for it.

(Venac is usually used in Belgrade's geography in term of a round street (Obilićev Venac, Kosančićev Venac) or a rim of the river (Dunavski Venac). In this case it was the "rim of the Sava".)

Geography

With an area of 14 square kilometers (5.4 sq mi), Savski Venac is the third smallest municipality of Belgrade after Vračar and Stari Grad. Despite being small in area, it includes several diverse geographical features:

• the low section on the right bank of the Sava river (Savamala and Bara Venecija). Due to its low altitude toward the Sava, and lack of any protection, this is the only part of central urban area of Belgrade that gets flooded during the extremely high waters of the river. It was almost completely flooded in 1984 and during major floods in 2006.
• southern slopes of the hill of Terazije (Terazijska Terasa) which descends from downtown Belgrade to the Sava.
• entire western slope of the Vračar Hill (Karađorđev Park and former Zapadni Vračar) which also descends to the Sava.
• southern slope of the Vračar Hill, known as the Guberevac Hill or Ludo Brdo ("Crazy Hill") as it is the location of the psychiatric hospital "Laza Lazarević".
• the former valley of the stream od Mokroluški Potok, now conducted underground. It is a route to the modern highway and the new railstation of Prokop.
• the hill of Topčidersko Brdo which has a cliff-like edge above the Sava (Senjak).
• the hill of Banjica in the extreme south of the municipality.
• the upper valley of Topčiderska reka and the vast park-forest of Topčider.

Neighborhoods

Bara Venecija Dedinje Diplomatska Kolonija Gospodarska Mehana

Jatagan Mala Karađorđev park Lisičji Potok Mostarska Petlja

Prokop Savamala Senjak Stadion

Topčider Topčidersko Brdo Zapadni Vračar Zeleni Venac

Demographics

Church of St. Archangel Gabriel

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1948	54,067	—
1953	65,366	+3.87%
1961	74,971	+1.73%
1971	63,531	−1.64%
1981	53,374	−1.73%
1991	47,682	−1.12%
2002	42,505	−1.04%
2011	39,122	−0.92%
2022	36,699	−0.58%
Source:

According to the census of 2022, Savski Venac has a population of 36,699 inhabitants. As all the other central city municipalities, it has been depopulating for decades, however, it still remains one of the most densely populated: 2,445/km² (6,330/sq mi) (4,686/km² or 12,136/sq mi back in 1961).

Ethnic structure

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Ethnic group	Population
Serbs	27,881
Yugoslavs	466
Russians	277
Montenegrins	205
Croats	152
Romani	138
Macedonians	110
Gorani	62
Bosniaks	56
Slovenians	50
Muslims	34
Hungarians	27
Romanians	26
Ukrainians	21
Slovaks	20
Germans	17
Bulgarians	10
Others	7,207
Total	36,699

Administration

Presidents of the municipality (since 1997):

• 1997–2000: Zdravko Krstić
• 2000–2004: Branislav Belić
• 2004–2012: Tomislav Đorđević
• 2012–2016: Dušan Dinčić
• 2016–2020: Irena Vujović
• 2020–present: Miloš Vidović

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	115
Mining and quarrying	21
Manufacturing	2,139
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	105
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	283
Construction	2,268
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	4,759
Transportation and storage	4,099
Accommodation and food services	2,204
Information and communication	3,801
Financial and insurance activities	2,431
Real estate activities	262
Professional, scientific and technical activities	4,729
Administrative and support service activities	5,919
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	43,170
Education	4,407
Human health and social work activities	19,448
Arts, entertainment and recreation	1,184
Other service activities	1,069
Individual agricultural workers	8
Total	104,424

Sport

Sportsko Selo ("Sport Village") – In the early 1970s a football pitch was built at the end of the Deligradska street, right above the highway. It was adapted into the Yugoslav People's Army Reserve Officers' Training Ground, but in the early 1990s the location was abandoned. The lot was left unattended and gradually turned into a rubbish dump. In 2009 a project for the ground was jointly drafted by the city and the municipality with the working title "Ada Ciganlija u malom". After two years of construction, the new complex was opened on 30 May 2011. It covers an area of 85 ares (91,000 square feet) and contains one volleyball, three basketball and four tennis courts, children playgrounds and a fitness plateau. There are also a futsal and bocce courts, outdoor gym, walking paths, rest areas, wooden ice-cream kiosk and a parking lot. The complex is situated in a wooded area and includes an amphitheater suitable for the theatrical performances in the open. Invited to choose the name for the complex between the originally proposed "Ada Ciganlija u malom" and "Sportsko Selo" which appeared during the construction, citizens picked the latter.

Features

Savski Venac constitutes the western section of the downtown Belgrade. Most government offices and administrative buildings are located in the municipality, including:

The building of the National Bank of Serbia, near Slavija Square

Administration

• The Government of the Republic of Serbia in Nemanjina Street
• The building of the ministries, also in Nemanjina street
• The new building of the National Bank of Serbia, (Slavija)
• The former buildings of republic and federal police (destroyed during the 1999 NATO's attack)
• The former complex of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (same as the above)
• Over 30 embassies and dozens of ambassadorial residences
• Archives of Yugoslavia (Senjak)

Traffic



Savski Venac railway map
to Novi Beograd New Railroad Bridge │ Old Railroad Bridge 1 Sava River NIS to Beograd Donji grad Čukarica Savski Venac 2 Beograd Glavna Topčider Senjak tunnel Savski Venac Rakovica Beograd Centar Dedinje tunnel Karađorđev Park to Košutnjak 3 to Vukov Spomenik 1. New Belgrade –Čukarica–Savski Venac border 2. Savski Venac–Stari grad border 3. Savski Venac–Vračar border

• Belgrade Main railway station (Savski trg)
• Main bus station of Belgrade (BAS)
• Main bus station of Lasta (Bara Venecija)
• Belgrade Centre railway station (Prokop)
• The Belgrade-Niš highway and all the six bridges across the Sava to Novi Beograd: Brankov, Stari savski, Gazela, Stari želenički, Novi železnički, Most na Adi
• Both major interchanges in old Belgrade: Mostarska Petlja and Autokomanda

Economy and tourism

• BIP Brewery
• Belgrade Fair (Beogradski sajam, on the bank of the Sava)
• Open green market "Zeleni Venac"
• Hotel "Astorija"
• Hotel "Beograd"
• Hotel Bristol
• Beli Dvor, former royal court

Health

• Clinical Centre of Serbia, with 24 clinics and hospitals (beginning at Karađorđev park); two skyscrapers, which were to become one single Clinical Centre (Policlinic), a joint location for all the existing separate clinics, were planned already in 1973. Construction began in 1976, but due to the lack of funding, the works were soon halted. They were resumed in 1983 and in 1987 the first building was finished, but only the lower floors became operational. Upper floors remained unfinished and left to the elements since. Preliminary works, which include reconstruction of the finished structure and the construction of another one began on 6 December 2018. In March 2019, the Health ministry announced that the renovation of the operational part, revitalization of the empty building and construction of the twin tower, will all be finished by 2022.
• University's Children hospital in Tiršova Street, built from 1936 to 1940. Construction of the new children's hospital, colloquially called Tiršova 2, closer to the highway, began on 20 October 2021.

• City ambulance (Mostar)
• Hospital Dragiša Mišović (Dedinje)
• Železnička hospital (Dedinje)
• Orthopaedic hospital (Banjica)
• Vojnomedicinska akademija ("VMA", Banjica)

Culture and education

• Yugoslav Drama Theatre
• Theater Bojan Stupica
• Student's Cultural Center (SKC)
• University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics
• Faculty of the veterinarian medicine of the Belgrade University
• Touristic high school (Jug Bogdanova street)
• French School (Ecole Française de Belgrade)

Forests and parks

Urban forests and parks include:

• Bencion Buli Forest (1.96 ha (4.8 acres))
• Banjica Rise Forest (3.61 ha (8.9 acres))
• Park Bristol
• Čukarica Bay Forest (3.61 ha (8.9 acres))
• Park Gavrilo Princip
• Grafičar Forest (3.89 ha (9.6 acres))
• Hajd Park (8.28 ha (20.5 acres))
• Lisičji Potok Forest (7.44 ha (18.4 acres))
• Park Luka Ćelović
• Park Manjež
• Park Milutin Milanković
• Reiss Slope Forest (3.46 ha (8.5 acres))
• Topčider Forest, with the entire complex around the Konak of Prince Miloš (16.25 ha (40.2 acres))
• Topčidersko Brdo Forest (21.22 ha (52.4 acres))

See also

• Subdivisions of Belgrade
• List of Belgrade neighborhoods and suburbs

External links

Media related to Savski Venac at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website