Savski Venac

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".)

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".^[3]
• 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.

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).

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

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):^[6]

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.^[7][8]

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

Traffic



v t e Savski Venac railway map
Legend
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 Centre Railway Station
• Belgrade Main Railway Station (defunct)
• 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

• Subdivisions of Belgrade
• List of Belgrade neighborhoods and suburbs