The Size of Belgrade - From Singidunum to Belgrade Waterfront | Old Belgrade stories

Is Belgrade really as big as it seems, or is it just an illusion due to the space it occupies? How large could Belgrade have been in the past, and what did it look like back then? Are there streets today that indicate the distant history and size of the city?

To find answers to these questions, let's take a look at maps of old Belgrade...

We often hear about how Belgrade is rapidly expanding. Certain parts of the city, which were distant suburbs just fifty years ago, are now considered part of the central urban zone. The fate of Belgrade has been such that with the arrival of each new conqueror, its surface area and appearance have changed. We will attempt to compare the sizes of Belgrade from its origins to the present day. For the purpose of this story, we will disregard the existence of the Vinča culture in this area because Belgrade, as we know it, did not actually exist at that time. We will also omit the Middle Ages, as the city during that period, at its maximum extent, resembled Roman Belgrade. We are left to familiarize ourselves with the Celtic and Roman Singidunum, as well as the Hungarian, Ottoman, Austrian, and finally Serbian Belgrade. The only part of Belgrade that has been continuously inhabited throughout that time is the area of Kalemegdan and the Belgrade Fortress. That was the center of life until the 19th century and the major urban development.

But let's start by looking at the size of present-day Belgrade. According to official data, the total area of the city is 3,222 km². However, if we focus only on the urban area of the city and the central city municipalities, the area is approximately 360 km².

Celtic and Roman Belgrade

The original city in this area was founded during the 3rd century BCE, towards the end of the Iron Age. The city was founded by the Celts - Scordisci and they named it Singidunum. Based on the excavations and necropolises discovered so far, the Celts inhabited the eastern part of the city along the Danube, the area of Karaburma, Rospi Ćuprija, and Višnjica. There are opinions that they also settled the area of the present-day fortress, but there is no material evidence for that.

After the Celts, in the 1st century CE, the Romans settled in our region and remained until the great migration of peoples. With the arrival of the Romans, the city became the headquarters of the Fourth Flavian Legion and experienced a true flourishing period in terms of population, size, importance, and economic status. Numerous archaeological sites in the city center testify to this, now located beneath the surface. The center of Singidunum at that time coincided with the center of present-day Belgrade. As the center developed, every street excavation or foundation digging brought some new discovery. Based on these findings, we can now approximate the size of Singidunum during that period.

The urban settlement most likely extended between the present-day streets of Cara Uroša, Kneza Mihaila, Braće Jugovića, and Dobračina. One of the main roads leading into the city was the Via Cardo, which mostly followed the route of today's Knez Mihailova Street. The religious and administrative part of the city is believed to have been between the present-day streets of Delijska, Čubrina, Uskočka, Knez Mihailova, Cara Lazara, and Ulica Kralja Petra. The artisan center was located around the Saborna Church and the Patriarchate, and several Roman baths have been discovered nearby.

It is known that the Roman camp was situated in the area of the present-day Belgrade Fortress, the most dominant part of the city. This is evidenced by the remains of the Roman rampart and tower on the northeastern walls, not far from Zindan Gate, as well as the recent discovery of a rampart near the Mehmed-paša Sokolović Fountain. There were numerous Roman necropolises - cemeteries found in the area of Trg Republike, Obilićev Venac, Studentski Trg, Kosovska Street, near Dom Omladine, all the way to the present-day Tašmajdan Park.

Based on this data, Roman Singidunum stretched from the Sava and Danube rivers across Knez Mihailova and the surrounding streets to Trg Republike. From there, the necropolises began, located outside the city, just as cemeteries are located today.

The total area of this Roman Singidunum was approximately 1 km².

During the arrival of the Slavs in this area, the city was located on the slopes of the Danube and Sava rivers around the present-day Belgrade Fortress. For the following centuries, until the arrival of the Ottomans, the size of Belgrade was tied to that area.

Belgrade from the 15th to the 20th century

Significant changes in the territory and appearance of the city occurred in the 15th century. From 1427 to 1456, Belgrade was under the rule of Hungarian rulers, and the military fortress was located in the Upper Town, while the Serbian population lived in the Lower Town, which was less fortified.

In the following centuries, the Austrian and Turkish armies alternated, along with the population in Belgrade. The Austrians built Belgrade on two occasions, from 1688 to 1690 and from 1717 to 1739. They constructed the majority of the fortress that is visible today and expanded the town towards the slopes of the Danube and Sava rivers.

During the second Austrian rule, a high rampart was erected around the entire town, in front of which there was a deep and wide moat. This moat is crucial for the layout of some of the present-day streets in the city center. The moat extended from the Danube bank and Temišvarska Gate, roughly along today's Dunavska Street, Žorža Klemansoa Street, and Francuska Street, past the Imperial (later Vidin) Gate, to Trg Republike and the Württemberg Gate. From there, it followed the streets of Obilićev Venac and Topličin Venac to Pop Lukina Street and Varoška Gate, then continued along Kneza Sime Markovića Street and Velike Stepene to the Sava Wharf and Sava Gate. If you carefully observe the area of Obilićev Venac, you will notice the unusual bend near the Hotel Majestic, which is precisely due to the former moat.

So both German and Serbian Belgrade were "within the moat." Over time, a part "outside the moat" started to develop along Kragujevački Drum (today Terazije and Kralja Milana), Šabački Drum (towards Karađorđeva and Gavrila Principa streets), and Kraljice Natalije Street.

From the mid-18th to the 19th century, with the return of the Turkish army and people to Belgrade, the appearance and size changed once again. Almost all Austrian buildings, the city's rampart, Württemberg Gate, were demolished... Belgrade once again took on Oriental characteristics, with winding and narrow alleyways, expanding towards Sava-mahala (Savamala) and Kosančićev Venac, where the Serbian population settled.

After the liberation from the Turks in 1867, Emilijan Joksimović initiated a new redesign of the city, and during that period, the town within the moat had an approximate area of about 2.6 km². As the area outside the moat was already inhabited, the total area of the settled area could have been around 3.5 km². Since then, the city has continuously expanded. By 1922, according to the map, it had an area of approximately 20 km².

After World War II, the city took on the outlines of present-day Belgrade. Villages from the once-distant outskirts, such as Žarkovo, Beli Vod, Mirijevo, Višnjica, Sremčica, were annexed. As the city expanded, old buildings were gradually demolished. Some were destroyed in wars, but a large number were intentionally demolished to make way for high-rise buildings. Unfortunately, this trend of construction is still prevalent today.