Cerak Vinogradi

Cerak Vinogradi (Serbian Cyrillic: Церак Виногради pronounced [t͡sê̞rak vɪnɒgradɪ]) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Čukarica.

A green space area in Cerak Vinogradi.

Location

Cerak Vinogradi is bordered by the neighborhoods of Cerak, Cerak 2 and Filmski Grad to the north, Rakovica and Skojevsko Naselje to the east, Vidikovac to the south and Ibarska magistrala (Ibar highway) to the west. "Pilota Mihajla Petrovića" Street, which divides Cerak Vinogradi and Vidikovac is also a municipality border between Čukarica and Rakovica.

History

The area of the present neighborhood was designed in the last years of the 1970s, and is a prime example of late Modern architectural style. Once considered one of the most modern and beautiful boroughs of Belgrade, in the 1990s, together with the deteriorating socio-economic conditions of the country, Cerak Vinogradi saw the effect of low maintenance, degradation of the environment, etc.

Authors (M. and D. Marušić and N.Borovnica) won The October prize (Cyrillic: Октобарска награда) for the Cerak Vinogradi project in 1985.

Initial archeological work discovered a previous settlement at the site, dated to lower Paleolithic period and Vinča culture. Due to architectural-urbanistic value, the area is under the regime of "full protection", meaning complete preservation of the area, with no changes (possible use changes inside particular objects, with preservation of the authenticity and architectural values of the object) - Criteria K2, K8, K6.

One of the street corners in Cerak Vinogradi

Characteristics

The borough is residential, with neighborhood type commercial content, and extensive parks and green spaces, with a population of 13,091 in 2002. It has one large supermarket, a medical center, an elementary school and a kindergarten.

All streets are named after a species of the tree lining the whole length (Ash Street, Linden Street, Cedar Street, etc.). The building type is apartment block, usually paired in a line of G+3 and G+6 floors high. There’s only light traffic (access roads) inside the neighborhood.

The nearby area is residential with developing commercial sector since the 1990s. A shopping mall with a McDonald's restaurant is in the immediate vicinity, with a farmers' market and a number of other stores nearby.

The name itself describes a previous state of the area (Cerak is Serbian for bitter oak forest and Vinogradi is for vineyards).

Transportation

Cerak Vinogradi is a few minutes away from the park-forest of Košutnjak, a short bus ride from major commercial center of Banovo Brdo, river Sava and the island and lake of Ada Ciganlija. It is well connected by public transportation buses with the rest of the city: lines 23, 37, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 59, 89, 531, 532, 533 and 534 .

Coordinates: Earth 44°44′N 20°25′E / 44.733°N 20.417°E

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