Kopitareva Gradina is located in the east-central section of the municipality. It is located between the streets of Džordža Vašingtona, Hilandarska, Šafarikova, Đure Daničića, Bulevar despota Stefana, Jelene Ćetković and the square of Kopitareva Gradina itself. In the east it extends into the neighborhood of Jevremovac, in the south-east into Palilula, into Trg Republike on the west and into Dorćol in the north.
History
Originally, the area was under the vineyards and was known as Mitropolitova bašta, after a garden build and kept by the metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mihailo Jovanović. The area began to develop in the 1860s, following the construction of the First Town Hospital in Džordža Vašingtona Street in 1868. First houses were built in the late 19th century and city administration built a plan for the neighborhood in the early 1900s so for the most part, the area was urbanized in the period 1900-1914. City plan of creating lots was finished by 1905 and in 1907 a green square was built at the place of the Mitropolitova bašta and in 1924 the name of the neighborhood is changed to Kopitareva Gradina, after Jernej Kopitar, Slovene philologist and collaborator of Vuk Karadžić, major reformer of the Serbian alphabet.
Characteristics
Kopitareva Gradina is a unique ambiental and architectural neighborhood within Belgrade. Though urbanized in the 1910s, the dominant features in its skyline are for the most part preserved until today. Series of low, residential houses with back yards was built. The neighborhood is built in two different architectural styles: Classicism and Secession. Examples of the first are the houses built by the architect Sreten Stojanović, and of the latter work of Milan Antonović. At the time, Kopitareva Gradina was a place where many politicians and public figures built their own houses. The square itself is somewhat secluded and has no traffic importance. In Hilandarska Street is the museum, Memorial house of Laza K. Lazarević. Apart from Lazarević, other notable residents include Jovan Cvijić, Ljubomir Stojanović, Petar Palavičini and architect Antonović himself, and the houses were designed by the architects like Stojan Titelbah, Danilo Vladisavljević and the first Serbian woman architect Jelisaveta Načić. As an important cultural-historical complex, it has been declared a cultural property and protected by law on 27 December 1968.
Features
Building of Petar Putnik
At 10 Đure Daničića Street, on the corner with the Džordža Vašingtona, there is a Building of Petar Putnik. A residential building, it was constructed in 1910 by Putnik himself, who was an engineer, for his family. Aside from bricks and steel beams, the reinforced concrete was used, which makes this building, along with the Belgrade Cooperative in the Savamala neighborhood, one of oldest edifices built using this material in Belgrade. In 1926 two additional floors and the mansard roof were added, completely keeping the architectural characteristics and style of the original building. The building is designed in the Vienna Secession style and the main characteristic is the rich secessionist façade, considered as the "uniquely beautiful" in Belgrade. The dominant motifs of the lavish decoration are the female maskeroni, which form a garland in the third floor area. Originally, the entire building was surrounded by garlands of triglyphs and metopes, had carved ornaments between the windows and imitation of stone slabs on the lower levels. However, in time most of these ornaments perished. In 2018 the renovation of the façade began. It was decided that only the ornaments visible before the renovation started will be preserved, though the local residents opted for the total reconstruction of the original façade. The contractor discovered the original ornaments from 1910 after the old plaster was removed, but they were plastered back again. Institute for the protection of the cultural monuments then "suggested" to the contractor to make old ornaments visible wherever possible. Though neglected for decades, the building and its surrounding were used as a location for numerous films and TV serials, including I Even Met Happy Gypsies, Otpisani, Nešto između and Bolji život.
Monument to Jernej Kopitar
In 2017 the reconstruction of the square on the southwestern edge of the neighborhood was announced. Though small, six streets are conjoining at the square. It was also announced that the monument to Jernej Kopitar, after whom the neighborhood was named, will be erected at the pedestrian section of the square. It was a result of collaboration of Belgrade and Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, as Belgrade donated the monument of Vuk Karadžić to Ljubljana in 2016. Ljubljana organized the design competition and among 11 designs selected the one by Matjaž Počivavšek. The surrounding square was also projected by the Slovene architect, Roko Žnidaršič. The central part will be paved with three-colored granite cubes and left empty to serve as the multi-purposed area for various public events. There will also be new trees, benches, climbing wall and street-light candelabras. Work at the square and preparations for the monument began in April 2020.
