Kijevo, Belgrade
| Kijevo | |
|---|---|
  Kijevo | |
| Coordinates: 44°42′56″N 20°25′46″E / 44.71556°N 20.42944°E | |
| Country |
 Serbia |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 5,285 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Kijevo (Serbian: Кијево) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica.
Location
Kijevo is located on the southwestern slopes of the Straževica hill, in the central part of the municipality, on the mouth of the stream of Kijevski potok into the Topčiderka river. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Petlovo Brdo on the west, Labudovo Brdo and Kneževac on the north and Resnik on the southeast. Area south of Kijevo, the "Klik"' and "Šabinac" meadows, is still not urbanized.
History
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1981 | 6,708 | — |
| 1991 | 7,728 | +15.2% |
| 2002 | 9,239 | +19.6% |
| 2011 | 5,285 | −42.8% |
| Source: [1][2][3][4] | ||
Until the early 20the century, Kijevo was an uninhabited section of the Rakovica's rural area. Svetozar Stefanović, industrialist who founded the first canning factory in Serbia, in Kragujevac, moved to Belgrade and bought the land at the mouth of the Kijevski potok into the Topčiderka and planted fruits and vegetables. Later, in 1901 he also transferred his factory from Kragujevac to Kijevo. The factory was nationalized after the World War II by the new Communist authorities, renamed to "Prvi Maj" and moved to Čukarica in the late 1950s. The factory was predecessor of the modern canning factory FMP.[5]
After the Lake Kijevo was created in 1901, lots around the lake were settled by the wealthy Belgrade citizens who build villas around the lake. Among the first was Moša Avram "Maca", proprietor of the first umbrella factory in Belgrade. His villa was later adapted into the first Kijevo elementary school and after the World War II became the seat of local branch of OZNA (Yugoslav security agency) for a while. The building was demolished in the 1960s.[5]
Kijevo was a separate village until 1959 when it was incorporated into Kneževac, which in turn was incorporated into Belgrade in 1972.[6] Kijevo was then organized as a sub-municipal unit of "local community", which had a population of 5,285 in 2011.
Economy
A former village, through urbanization Kijevo became the southern extension of Rakovica and a mostly industrialized area. The most important feature in the neighborhood is the quarry which supplies the entire Belgrade's building industry with stone and slates. The remaining industry is also mostly into construction and building (building companies and cement plants Komgrap, Graditelj, etc.).
Kijevo is important traffic crossroad. Crossing of the Belgrade-Niš and suburban Belgrade's railway is located here, with several tunnels and "Kijevo" railway station. Kružni put or "circular road" which rounds through the entire southern outskirts of Belgrade passes here, also with a tunnel in Kijevo.
Lake Kijevo
Lake Kijevo is a former artificial lake which existed for 46 years. Kijevski potok, which originates under the hillock of Mačkov kamen, between Kneževac and Rušanj, cut through the Kijevo valley and often flooded it. In order to prevent damage by floodings to his factory, Stefanović built a sluice in 1901, forming the Lake Kijevo. Soon, the lake, surrounded by the thick forest, became an excursion site for the wealthier Belgraders. As Kijevo has its own railway station, a special excursion trains connected it to downtown Belgrade. There was an ada, small island in the lake which visitors could reached only by boats. Custom of the day was for the ladies to be brought to the island by boat and then to have a Turkish coffee served there. As the lake became more and more popular, Stefanović built a hotel with the ballroom. Visitors included Serbian king Peter I, writer Branislav Nušić and painter Nadežda Petrović. It has been recorded that the lake was visited by Albert Einstein, his wife Mileva and their son Hans. During his 1905 visit to the botanist Nedeljko Košanin, chief of the Belgrade's botanical garden Jevremovac, the Einsteins were driving the boat and swam in the lake.[5]
In 1937-38 Stefanović's nephew, who inherited the business, parceled the remaining land into lots with the view on ada and sold them for the construction of the family houses. After the unusually rainy spring in 1941, the sluice gate was lifted for the sludge to be washed away. The gates were later stolen and the lake began to recede. New authorities tried to clean an dredge the bottom of the valley, but ultimately gave up and the lake completely drained through the Kijevski potok into the Topčiderka by 1947. New government, aside from confiscating all their assets, declared the Stefanović's nephew and his brother public enemies. Immediately after the war, one of the brothers fell under the train in dubious circumstances (he was in the company of the representatives of the new government) and the other emigrated to the United States.[5]
When the construction of the neighborhood of Kanarevo Brdo began in the 1960s, the earth which was dug was used to fill the former lake. The area was then flattened and turned into the football court for the local club "FK Kijevo". The club was disbanded in 2000, and the court was left unattended. By 2015 it was completely overgrown by the vegetation and the football facilities deteriorated, while the stream became an open sewage canal. The only remaining property of the Stefanović family economic complex is one low, abandoned building full of rubbish, at the edge of the former court.[5]
References
- ↑ Osnovni skupovi stanovništva u zemlji – SFRJ, SR i SAP, opštine i mesne zajednice 31.03.1981, tabela 191. Savezni zavod za statistiku (txt file). 1983.
- ↑ Stanovništvo prema migracionim obeležjima – SFRJ, SR i SAP, opštine i mesne zajednice 31.03.1991, tabela 018. Savezni zavod za statistiku (txt file). 1983.
- ↑ Popis stanovništva po mesnim zajednicama, Saopštenje 40/2002, page 4. Zavod za informatiku i statistiku grada Beograda. 26 July 2002.
- ↑ Stanovništvo po opštinama i mesnim zajednicama, Popis 2011. Grad Beograd – Sektor statistike (xls file). 23 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Branka Vasiljević (29 August 2015), "Okopnilo jezero koje je posećivao i Albert Ajnštajn", Politika (in Serbian)
- ↑ Sistematski spisak naselja u Republici Srbiji. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade. 2011. ISBN 978-86-6161-013-4.
Coordinates: 44°42′56″N 20°25′46″E / 44.71556°N 20.42944°E
