Zemun | Belgrade Neighborhood's Names

A settlement with a history spanning several millennia, Zemun became administratively part of Belgrade in the mid-1930s, and only after World War II, it became one of the city's municipalities.

However, despite the massive influx of population to Belgrade in recent decades, the city's expansion in all directions and the construction of modern residential blocks, Zemun has managed to preserve its authenticity to this day, much to the pride of its residents, numbering over 180,000.

Although it has carried various names throughout history (Taurunum, Malevilla, Semlin, Zimony...), the current name of Zemun is of Slavic origin and is believed to be derived from the term "zemunica," which is still used in our language and refers to a house built into the ground. Considering that the first houses in this area were actually built by excavating into the loess plateau that rises above the right bank of the Danube, and that the cellars of the old Zemun residents are still located in this soft rock, the name of the settlement is quite logical.

Present-day Zemun is part of the larger Belgrade municipalities, physically connected to New Belgrade, and stretches all the way to Ugrinovci, covering an area of about 150 square kilometers. Roughly, the urban part of Zemun is divided into Lower, Upper, and New Town, as well as Zemunski Kej, settlements whose names should not be a mystery. However, within and between them, there are numerous neighborhoods whose names many present-day Belgraders have probably never even heard of.

Retenzija

A small neighborhood in Zemun, "leaning" against the municipality of New Belgrade, and bounded by the streets of John F. Kennedy, Prva Pruga, and the boulevards of Mihajlo Pupin and Nikola Tesla, bears a somewhat unusual name for an urban settlement. Namely, centuries before Belgrade expanded onto the left bank of the Sava River, this area was known for regular seasonal flooding of the Danube and high groundwater levels. With the settlement of the new part of the city, certain hydro-technical measures had to be taken against flooding – a retention basin was built, an underground collector for collecting excess groundwater, after which the entire neighborhood was named.

Gardoš

For many, the most attractive part of Zemun, situated on the slopes of a small hill, crowned by the recognizable Millennium Tower (Sibinjanin Janko Tower), the main symbol of Zemun, is called Gardoš. This area, characterized by narrow, steep, and (mostly) cobbled streets, encompasses the space between Cara Dušana Street, Kej oslobođenja, Nada Dimić Street, and Karamatina Street, representing one of the oldest parts of Zemun. The sonorous name actually has a very simple explanation – a combination of the Slavic word for "town" and a characteristic Hungarian pronunciation, as Zemun was part of the Hungarian Kingdom for centuries.

Muhar

A smaller valley around the most famous Zemun intersection, where Gardoš, Donji Grad, and Gornji Grad meet, is officially called Trg Branka Radičevića, but in the minds of older Zemun residents, it still lives on as Muhar. It got its name from Ivan Muhar, one of the wealthiest pre-war traders in Zemun, whose house still stands on the corner of Glavna Street and Vasilija Vasilijevića Street.

Ćukovac

The hill and neighborhood that is separated from Gardoš by Muhar, and informally bounded by the streets of Cara Dušana, Cetinjska, Ugrinovačka, and Novogradska, is called Ćukovac and also belongs to the core of old Zemun. One could assume that one of the more beautiful and peaceful neighborhoods of Zemun bears its name after the recognizable city bird, the cuckoo, a species of owl that likely nested in this area in the past.

Kalvarija

Another neighborhood that testifies to the multicultural and multiconfessional history of Zemun is Kalvarija, a settlement also situated on a loess hill and roughly bounded by the streets of Tošin Bunar, Teodor Hercl, Marija Bursać, and Laudonova. Like many similarly named neighborhoods in Europe, Kalvarija owes its name to the Latin term for the hill where Jesus was crucified. From the mid-18th century to World War II, there was allegedly a cross-shaped path on this area symbolizing Christ's crucifixion. In post-war urbanization, the path lost its original shape and meaning, but the name of the neighborhood has remained in use to this day.

Sava Kovačević Neighborhood

A residential block located in the central part of today's Zemun, bordered by the streets of Dragana Rakića on two sides, Prvomajska, and Gornjogradska, is named after Sava Kovačević, a partisan commander and hero of the socialist revolution in Yugoslavia, who was killed during the Battle of Sutjeska in 1943.

Sutjeska Neighborhood

The neighboring settlement, bounded by the streets of Šilerova, Kačarevska, Zagorska, and Prvomajska, is named after the river in Herzegovina where the aforementioned battle took place, one of the significant battles in World War II in the former Yugoslavia. The northern and western extensions of the Sutjeska settlement are called Meandri and Bački Ilovik (a Roma settlement). Unfortunately, there are no reliable records about the origins of the names of these settlements.

Železnička kolonija

A small settlement located behind the Zemun Railway Station, bordered by the streets of Cvijićeva, Jakšićeva, Slovenska, and Geteova, was built in the late 1920s for the housing of the workers of the Yugoslav Royal Railways and their families. Hence, there is no doubt about its name, which has remained unchanged to this day, although the demographic structure of the area has long since changed.

Galenika

The blocks of distinctive residential buildings between Batajnica Road and the Novi Sad highway, adjacent to the industrial complex of the Galenika pharmaceutical factory and the main road leading to the Pupin Bridge, are named after the factory itself. Built in the 1960s primarily for the factory workers, Galenika today represents a modern suburb on the outskirts of Zemun, which has become even more connected to other parts of Belgrade with the opening of the bridge across the Danube.

Altina and Plavi Horizonti

Altina and Plavi Horizonti, the two youngest neighborhoods in Zemun, emerged in the 1990s through spontaneous settlement of a large number of Serbian refugees from Croatia. They extend on the western side of the Novi Sad highway, separated by a railway track running in the same direction. Although in ancient times, the location of Altina served as an important point for trade and communication between two significant cities, Sirmium and Singidunum, the origin of the name for this neighborhood is still not clear. On the other side of the railway track, the Blue Horizons neighborhood probably owes its pleasant name to the heavenly blue sky that appears over the Srem fields surrounding it on clear and sunny days.

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