Vrčin

Although located just 20km from the very center of the Serbian capital, Vrčin is a peacefull village with a stunning countryside

Vrčin (Serbian Cyrillic: Врчин) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Grocka.

Location

Vrčin is located southeast of the Avala mountain, in the central-eastern part of the municipality, 20 km southeast of Belgrade and 14 km west of the municipal seat of Grocka. It is situated in the spring area of the Bolečica river and it is a major crossroad being located on the railway Belgrade-Požarevac, the highway Belgrade-Niš, regional road connecting the highway and the road of Smederevski put (through Zaklopača) and another one connecting the highway and the Belgrade-Kragujevac road.

Population

Vrčin is statistically classified as a rural settlement (village) and officially is the second most populous settlement in the municipality (Census 2002; after Kaluđerica but before municipal seat of Grocka). However, unofficial estimates including number of refugees (not counted in the official census reports) also put Leštane before Vrčin.

Vrčin extends on both sides of the highway (originally developed from the western side), the eastern extension colloquially being named Tranšped (Cyrillic: Траншпед). This area forms a continuous build-up area with Zaklopača. Vrčin experiences a steady growth of population:

• 1921 - 3,470
• 1948 - 5,040
• 1953 - 5,342
• 1961 - 6,042
• 1971 - 6,263
• 1981 - 7,327
• 1991 - 7,589 (de facto)
• 1991 - 8,034 (de jure)
• 2002 - 8,667 (de facto)
• 2002 - 9,328 (de jure)

Economy

Despite recent development of workshops and the commercial sector (including building of a shopping mall in the center of the settlement), the economy is mostly based on agriculture.

Politics

Vrčin was the seat of its own municipality which was disbanded and incorporated into the municipality of Grocka. From time to time, a motions of separating Vrčin from Grocka again appear in the public, due to the distance from its municipal seat and a fact that it is more populous than Grocka. Most recent idea is that Vrčin and several settlement from the Voždovac municipality (Zuce, Pinosava, Ripanj, Beli Potok) create a new, sub-Avalan municipality of Avalski Venac.

Neighborhoods

Vrčin has several neighborhoods of its own. They can be roughly divided in two sections, north and south of the highway.

North section:

• Cerje (Церје), southernmost extension of this section, not connected to the rest of Vrčin in urban sense. It is named after cer, Turkey oak.
• Donja Mala (Доња Мала, "lower alley"), constitutes bulk of the northern section.
• Jankovići (Јанковићи), easternmost section, which makes urban connection to Zaklopača. Named after a family surname.
• Tranšped (Траншпед), northern extension, closest to Belgrade, named after "Tranšped" company.

South section:

• Avramovići (Аврамовићи), northern section, named after a family surname.
• Bajića Kraj (Бајића Крај), eastern section, named after a family surname.
• Carino Naselje (Царино Насеље), south-eastern extension, along the highway.
• Feroplast (Феропласт), after the "Feroplast" company.
• Gornja Mala (Горња Мала, "upper alley"), central part of the entire neighborhood.
• Malo Polje (Мало Поље, "little field"), south-western extension.
• Orlovica (Орловица, "eagle hill").
• Pobrđani (Побрђани, "hilly places"), central-south extension.
• Ravnice (Равнице, "flat fields"), southernmost extension.

References

• Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6