Dedinje


Dedinje is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje is generally considered the wealthiest part of Belgrade, and is the site of numerous villas and mansions owned by the members of the city's plutocracy, as well as many diplomatic residences.

Location

Dedinje is located on the eastern slopes of the hill of Topčidersko Brdo, 7-8 kilometers south of downtown Belgrade to which it is connected by the Kneza Miloša street. It borders the neighborhoods of Senjak, Prokop and Mostar, Stadion and Diplomatska Kolonija, Banjica, Lisičji Potok and Topčider. It is well connected to the other parts of Belgrade by several boulevards and broad streets. Main street in the neighborhood itself is the Užička street.
The hilly section on which the Royal Compound is built is called Vezirovo Brdo.

History

In Ottoman period, the hill was a gathering place of the Dervishes. Before it was urbanized, the area of modern Dedinje was known for its vineyards, orchards and farms. The area was mentioned by the names Dedija, Mala Dedija, Dedina, Dedino brdo. In Turkish census from 1560, one of the Belgrade's tekije was located there. Austrian army had a camp on Dedinje in 1789 and in their charts from the 18th century they called it Dedinberg. Settlement began to grow after the World War I, intensifying with the building of the residencies of the Karađorđević royal family, from 1924 to 1936. Majority of residents were from the most affluent Belgrade families of industrials, bankers, merchants and politicians, who built summer-houses at first and later lavish villas. What is today considered as the best known parts of Dedinje, like Tolstojeva or Užička streets, were not originally part of the settlement, as it emerged more to the south
Dedinje became popular among Belgrade's rich even before World War II, when it was on the outskirts of the city. Many beautiful mansions in green neighborhood have been built, but in 1945 when Communists took over, they declared almost all former residents a state enemies and forced them out of their houses, so the new Communist political and military elite moved in, Tito being among the first. It continued after the collapse of Communism in 1980s, when the nouveau riche politicians, shady businessmen and criminals moved into the neighborhood and began expanding their villas and erecting high concrete walls. Most of such construction was illegal, often intruding on the property of Dedinje families that had been there for generations preceding the arrival of the nouveau riche/criminal class.
In 2019, Branislav Mitrović, architect and member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said that "caricatural architecture, inept compilations and stylish nonsenses" turned once respectable residential neighborhood of Dedinje, so as Senjak and Neimar, into chaos.
Apart from this, the neighborhood is a site of many embassies, diplomatic residences and some of Belgrade's most expensive restaurants and clubs. In 2013, it was announced that the villa “Crnogorka”, in Uzicka Street, was to be returned to Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. The villa was bought by her mother, Princess Olga, in 1940, and taken by the state in 1947. It is currently owned by the Serbian government and used as the official residence of the Ambassador of Montenegro.

Administration

From June 1945 to December 1946, Dedinje was one of 5 administrative neighborhoods within Belgrade's Raion VII.
Dedinje belonged to the municipality of Topčidersko Brdo, which in 1957 merged with the municipality of Zapadni Vračar to create the municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje had a population of 8,704 in 2002 and 8,440 in 2011.

Notable locations

Politics

in the 2004 unsolved murders of two on-duty soldiers.