Košutnjak (, ) is a park-forest and urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between in the municipalities of Čukarica (upper and central parts) and Rakovica (lower part). With the adjoining Topčider, it is colloquially styled "Belgrade's oxygen factory". The 1923 Belgrade's general plan, in which one of the main projects regarding the green areas was forestation of the area between Topčider and the city, envisioned a continuous green area Senjak – Topčidersko Brdo – Hajd Park – Topčider – Košutnjak, which was formed by the 1930s. This continual forested area makes the largest "green massif" in the immediate vicinity of Belgrade's urban tissue.
Etymology
The name, košutnjak, is derived from the medieval hunting forests of the Serbian nobility, meaning doe's breeder. (In Serbian, košuta means doe, hind), as does used to live freely in the park until the World War I. The name was mentioned for the first time in 1831.
Geography
The Košutnjak hill is high and the entire forest complex covers an area of .
Košutanjak has a few geological natural monuments. They include several Cretaceous maritime ridges of "Burdelj", "Tasin Majdan" and "Baremski", on the location of the assassination of the prince Michael, and a geology profile where the mint is located today.
Location
Košutnjak is located 6 km southwest from the downtown Belgrade. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Topčider to the north and west, Kanarevo Brdo to the northwest, Rakovica and Skojevsko Naselje to the south, and Žarkovo (with its extensions of Cerak, Cerak II, Repište) and Banovo Brdo (with its extension of Sunčana Padina) to the east. Filmski Grad (to the southwest) and Golf Naselje (to the northwest) are sub-neighborhoods of Košutnjak.
History
In the 19th century, Košutnjak was a fenced hunting ground and royal excursion place for the members of the Obrenović dynasty. Engineer, urbanist and professor at the Belgrade Lyceum, Atanasije Nikolić, was given a task of arranging the forest. He also arranged the neighboring Topčider Park and its nursery garden, and avenues along city's main streets and squares. Until the World War I, the area was under quality oak forest. A document from 1849 says that there were 48 deer in Košutnjak, 13 bulls and 35 does. In 1884 the first railway in Serbia, which connected Belgrade and Niš, was constructed through the forest. In 1908 Belgian architect Alban Chambon drafted a new general urban plan (GUP) in 1908 which made Košutnjak a public park.
Košutnjak gained a sort of historical notoriety as prince of Serbia, Mihailo Obrenović III and his cousin Anka Konstantinović were assassinated while walking in the park on , and when Ivan Stambolić, Slobodan Milošević's political opponent was abducted from the park on 25 August 2000 and later assassinated and buried at Fruška Gora. There are also remnants of the German cemetery and the monuments to the Serbian soldiers erected by their adversaries, German soldiers, in World War I.
After the assassination of prince Mihailo, the Board for the erection of the monument was formed already on 14 June 1868 and decided to collect donations for the construction of both the memorial church in Košutnjak, at the assassination location, and a monumental sculpture in the city itself. Russian sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin drafted the design for the memorial church or chapel in Košutnjak. After the public display, the citizens apparently liked the design and approved the construction. Painter Stevan Todorović ordered the lithographs to be made in Vienna. However, the process of building the memorials dragged on, and in 1871 Mikeshin's propositions were rejected. Also in 1871, the government opted to build only the monument in the city, which resulted in the Prince Mihailo Monument at the modern Republic Square. The memorial, simply marking the spot, was later set in Košutnjak. It was renovated in 1912 and 2020.
In 1903, former royal hunting ground was opened for public, making Košutanjak an excursion area of Belgrade. The first summer sanatorium for the city children in Serbia was opened in Košutnjak. In 1911, Ministry of Construction devised the plan for the cart and pedestrian roads grid, spreading from Topčider railway station to the wide meadow on one of Košutnjak's plateaus. On this location, Pionirski Grad is located today. The 1923 Belgrade's general plan envisioned forestation of Topčidersko Brdo and Senjak, formation of the new park and establishment of the continuous green area with the Topčider and Košutnjak. Project started in 1926 while the Hyde Park was finished in the 1930s.
Until World War II, the pheasants were abundant too and in this period Košutnjak was a healing destination for many city children. After 1945 city urbanists considered the way Topčider-Košutnjak complex has been handled was wrong, especially the expansion of the railway station into the marshalling yard and construction of Filmski Grad (both especially hurt Košutnjak's appeal), so the Belgrade's GUP in the 1950s projected the complete removal of the railway objects from the Topčider valley, but that was never executed.
After Belgrade was declared a national skiing center, Košutnjak was one of the locations where ski pistes were built. The selected terrain began at the German cemetery and went downhill to the bottom of the Serbian cemetery. The piste was long and wide. By 1936, a ski jumping hill was built. After World War II, before skiing facilities were built on the mountains further from Belgrade, the slopes of Košutnjak (so as of Kalemegdan, Banovo Brdo and Avala), continued to be used by Belgraders for skiing. The slope is still recognisable in the hill's landscape and on top if it is a cafe-restaurant called "Ski staza" ("ski piste").
From June 1945 to December 1946, Košutnjak was one of 5 administrative neighborhoods within Belgrade's Raion VII.
In the 1980s, Košutnjak hosted one of the most popular Belgrade's disco clubs, "Panorama".
Wildlife Plants
Košutnjak is home to many plant and animal species, some of which are under strict protection. There are 521 plant species, including lime tree, pedunculate oak, common hornbeam, Turkey oak, Hungarian oak, European yew, sweet chestnut, cherry laurel, hackberry and Turkish hazel. About 5% of the forest is inhabited by the conifers, mostly cedar, black pine and white pine. In 2015, an average age of the trees has been estimated to 60–70 years. Also in 2015, about of Košutnjak has been re-forested with 4,400 seedlings of the common ash and sycamore.
Animals
Animals inhabiting the forest are squirrels, hedgehogs, woodpeckers and bats.
Košutnjak hosts an experimental apiary, named after the forest. In May 2020 it was estimated that more than 3,000 honey bee swarms are orphaned in Belgrade, roaming around the city, trying to nest in rain gutters, under the eaves or even in residential houses, so the project of the bee sanctuaries construction within the complex was completed in July.
Importance
Košutnjak is one of the most popular recreational places in Belgrade. With , Sports Center Košutnjak is one of the largest and most diverse in the city (stadiums, pools, etc.), while the park also has an auto-camp, modern settlements of Filmski Grad and Pionirski Grad, big studios of the national broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia, many popular restaurants and arranged paths criss-crossing the forest. There are also jogging tracks and a ski run.
In the lower parts, Košutnjak and Topčider forests grew together, while in the upper parts they are divided by the river Topčiderska reka and a railway passing through the river's valley (both Košutnjak and Topčider have their own, separate train stations).
Nobelist author Ivo Andrić wrote: "You just hang on to Topčider and Košutnjak...Topčider is my favorite place, where I ate bread and drank wine in the sweetest and calmest manner". Andrić's longtime friend, painter , made two paintings of Košutnjak in 1943. One, titled "Košutnjak, 1943" just shows the nature and is today exhibited in the Memorial museum of Ivo Andrić. On the other one, "In Košutnjak during the occupation" she painted Andrić, Milica Babić-Jovanović (Andrić's future wife) and Nenad Jovanović. This painting is in the National Museum of Serbia.
Protection
In 2014, city government declared "Košutnjak Forest" as a protected area, or nature monument. Protected locality covers an area of . Košutnjak is the natural reserve of pedunculate oak, common hornbeam and silver lime.
However, in the late 2010s, state and government authorities began extensive construction works in the forest, cutting dozens of trees. Residents at first tried to remove the construction fencing, but later stormed the construction sites, following the skirmishes with the police, and halted the works temporarily including blocking of the unmarked trucks without license plates which transported cut wood. Protest marches were also organized, so as blocking of the local Čukarica Municipality Hall. Objections also include claims that many of the objects already exist in the vicinity and that there are better locations, adjoining the existing sports center, where the cutting of the trees wouldn't be necessary.
One site is chosen as the location for the expanded "Košutnjak" sports center, in the large part of the forest which has been groomed since the 1960s. Expansion includes tall martial arts hall, expansion of the "Trim" hotel, bungalows, additional 4 tennis courts, shooting range, indoor swimming pool, 207 parking spots and access streets. Government claims the project will cost €12 million, out of which €1,2 million is for the artificial climbing rock, which, due to the price, gained negative media prominence. Authorities also claimed that only 20 trees would be cut but 100 new ones would be planted; however, some 60 pine trees were cut. The complex was set to finish in early 2021, but the deadline was then moved to March 2022, with city now claiming that only 10 trees were cut, but "500 new ones were planted".
Concurrently, trees were cut on the opposite slope, between the ski run and the Topčider cemetery. After the residents occupied the area, city stated that they are replacing trees with the new and healthy ones. Cutting of the trees came as the continuation of the constant cutting of the trees in Belgrade, including the neighborhood of Ušće and the Kalemegdan Park. Goran Trivan, Minister of Environmental Protection, said that citizens are overdramatizing as the "tree is a renewable resource". As the cutting continued, and protests grew, it was discovered that the company officially entrusted with the cutting of the trees, belongs to one of the top city officials and member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, chief city urbanist Marko Stojčić. His company was the only bidder. After this was made public, a 2017 document which confirmed this was swiftly removed from the site of the Institute for Sports, which is in charge of the project. It was also made public that the cut trees have been transported to the house of a local representative and member of the same party, who claimed that he "paid for it".
Stojčić originally disputed the 2017 document before later acknowledging its existence, but claimed that he was awarded the job already in 2014, refusing to provide any documentation. He claimed he held no office at the time, either in the city or the party, however in 2014 he was already member of the city's Planning Commission and of the City Urban Council, so he basically awarded the job to himself. Stojčić added that he sees no issue here.