Senjak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Senjak (pronounced: [ˈsɛ.ɲɑk], Serbian: Сењак) is an affluent and distinguished urban neighborhood in Belgrade, Serbia. It is lavished with embassies and diplomatic residences, and overlooks the Sava river in a hilly region of Savski Venac, one of Belgrade's oldest municipalities. It is bordered by Topčider to the east, and Careva Ćuprija to the south. Along with surrounding parts of Belgrade such as adjacent Dedinje, Senjak has had a colorful and important history.
After the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1918, its Serb king constructed his military academy in Senjak. The academy's building is majestic, with heavy cream-colored walls, and tall windows. During World War II the Nazis made it the headquarters for their military operations in the Balkans. The Allies bombed the neighborhood during the war in order to destroy the headquarters and a bridge over the Sava river; yet the targets were never hit.
After World War II, when a communist government under Josip Broz came to power and formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945, its secret police eradicated Senjak's "enemies of the people", who in many instances were simply the owners of homes or property desired by Josip Broz's proteges. The people were eradicated by various means; some were taken into a nearby woods and shot, with their remains laying in unmarked graves for decades until they were exposed by construction workers clearing trees for a new soccer field. Across from the soccer field and near the military academy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia stands the vacant summer house of one of Serbia's old rulers, King Peter I of Serbia, who came to power in 1903 and established the country's first democratic institutions.
When Slobodan Milošević seized power in communist Yugoslavia, he and his wife took up residence in the neighborhood, in a villa surrounded by high walls. During mass protests in Belgrade in the 1990s, in one instance police narrowly prevented protesters from entering Milošević's residence. The residents of Senjak cheered and whistled at the mockery when Milošević left the premises in Josip Broz's limousine.
During the 1999 NATO military operation in Serbia, a number of buildings in the neighborhood such as the Swiss ambassador's residence were damaged or affected by the conflict.
Serbia's Museum of African Art (Serbian: Музеј Афричке Уметности / Muzej Afričke Umetnosti) is located in Senjak. The museum was established from the private collection of a Yugoslav diplomat, and contains many rare pieces.
Ecole Française de Belgrade (Serbian: Француска Школа у Београду / Francuska Škola u Beogradu), an international French school founded in 1951, is located in Senjak. The school is composed of a nursery school, an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.
Milena Reljin, a renowned rhythmic gymnast of the communist Yugoslavia era, began her coaching at a young age in the Senjak Gymnastics Club.
The first tram link created in Belgrade was from the Kalemegdan fortress to Senjak.
