History
In the Ottoman period, the hill was a gathering place of the dervishes.[1] In Turkish census from 1560, one of the Belgrade's tekija, administered by the dervishes who vowed to poverty, was located there. Before it was urbanized, the area was known for its vineyards, orchards (owned by the dervishes) and farms. The area was mentioned by the names Dedija, Mala Dedija, Dedina, Dedino brdo (literally, old man's hill; Serbian deda means old man, elder, grandfather). Origin of the name may be the fact that the superiors of the dervishes were called dedo (elder). The name spread and was accepted so when the Austrian army had a camp on Dedinje in 1789, in their charts from the 18th century they called the neighborhood Dedinberg.[2][3]
King Aleksandar Obrenović and queen Draga built an estate in the early 20th century on top of the hill. They've chosen the spot due to its position of a natural lookout: from there you could see nicely the forest in Košutnjak, valley of Rakovica, Kneževac and the blue Avala, whole of Belgrade, Zemun and the dark blue foothills of Fruška Gora.[3] 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 industrialists, 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.[2]
It was estimated that by 1936, there were 8,000 structures, including barracks, houses, mansions and villas. Among the non-royal residents were the journalistic Ribnikar family, which founded the daily Politika and publisher Geca Kon (modern 33 Tolstojeva Street).[3] Being on the outskirts of the city, there were numerous military barracks intended to defend the city, but the city later spawned tens of kilometres further.
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, Josip Broz Tito being among the first, followed by Aleksandar Ranković, Milovan Đilas, Edvard Kardelj and Moša Pijade, among others.[3] Similar process continued after the collapse of Communism in the 1990s, when the nouveau riche politicians (like Slobodan Milošević), shady businessmen (like the Karić family or Željko Mitrović) and criminals (like Željko Ražnatović Arkan) 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.
Milošević especially expanded his complex. After purchasing villa at 33 Tolstojeva, he expanded to the numbers 31 and 34 in the same street and another building in the Užička Street, with the property adjoining the Residence at 15 Užička Street [sr], which was Tito's official residence. He purchased the 33 Tolstojeva villa for only DM2,000 (€1,000), mansion in the Užička for DM9,000 (€4,500) while the renovation and adaptation of all objects was paid by the state. As Milošević's wife, Mirjana Marković, was heading the Yugoslav Left party, shortened to JUL, Dedinje was at the time jokingly called Julino Brdo, though the real Julino Brdo is a distant, separate neighborhood of Belgrade.[3]
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.[4] The ironic twist was also pointed out - once settlement of the beggar monks who vowed to poverty, Dedinje was transformed into the neighborhood of the greedy and rich.[3] His colleague Branislav Stojkov in 2022 commented that since the 2010s investors were allowed to build whatever they want, wherever they want, if they have political backup. He gave an example of the massive "castle" built by the media magnate Željko Mitrović in the heart of the most distinguished part of Dedinje, the Užička Street: "financially powerful, heavily backed by politicians, and culturally deformed investor, builds a mansion of extreme distasteful kitsch architecture, with a string of urbanistic deceits".[5]
The Mitrović's lot is part of the preliminary protected spatial unit of Senjak-Topčidersko Brdo-Dedinje. It means it has to be treated as protected, until the protection is confirmed or denied, and that opinion of the city's Institute for the protection of cultural monuments regarding the project is obligatory, but the institute was never notified about the construction. City allowed construction of 2,047 m2 (22,030 sq ft) in total, above and below the ground, but the structure has a total of 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) of which 2,047 m2 (22,030 sq ft) is above the ground. The massive structure is called by Mitrović, who calls himself Žeks, the Temple of Saint Žeks.[6]
The neighborhood is also 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 Užička 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.[7] After it was returned to Princess Elizabeth and her brother Prince Alexander, they immediately sold the entire lot to the British investment fund represented in Serbia by the Princes Park company. Plans, announced in 2018 and 2023, include demolition of "Crnogorka" and construction of 12 luxurious smaller villas in the 1.4 ha (3.5 acres) lot bounded by the Užička, Krajiška and Kačanička streets.[8]
Serbia
Belgrade
