Karađorđe's Park () is a public park and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. While the park itself is located in Belgrade's municipality of Vračar, majority of what is today considered the neighborhood of Karađorđev Park is since 1957 located in the municipality of Savski Venac (though historically still within the old, much larger neighborhood of Vračar).
As the first trees in modern park were planted in 1806, it is considered a predecessor of all green areas in Belgrade. It is sometimes described as the oldest park in Belgrade, but the proper park was planted only in 1848. In 1979, Karađorđev Park was added to Historic Landmarks of Great Importance list, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.
Geography
Karađorđev Park is located on the southern slope of the Vračar hill, beginning at the Vračar plateau and the National Library of Serbia and ending at the highway interchange of Autokomanda. It is elongated in the north to south direction, bordered by the Boulevard of the Liberation on the west and the Nebojšina street on the east.
Today, Karađorđev Park in the term of neighborhood covers larger area than the park itself. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Vračar on the north, Neimar on the east and Autokomanda on the south, but the term spread on the area west and northwest of the park (former sections of Zapadni Vračar and Englezovac/Savinac, respectively), so basically all the area along the Boulevard of Liberation from Autokomanda to the Slavija square is today called Karađorđev Park. Across the northernmost top of the park to the west is another park, Park Milutin Milanković.
It is one of the busiest parts of Belgrade with very dense traffic as the Boulevard of Liberation is one of the major routes to downtown Belgrade. Area is mostly non-residential, with public buildings (the Faculty of the veterinarian medicine of the University of Belgrade, many clinics of the Belgrade Clinical Center, Children University Hospital, Belgrade Meteorological Station, etc.).
History
19th century
The predecessor to the modern park was a camp set by the Serbian army in 1806 during the siege of Belgrade in the First Serbian Uprising. After the Serbs secured Belgrade, soldiers killed in the battle on the liberation day, 30 November 1806, were buried at this place.
After the monument was erected, it was suggested that the park should be planted around it. City officials dismissed the idea, citing lack of necessary funds. By 1887, the cemetery and monument became neglected.
After the war, a monument to the International Brigades, dedicated to the fighters in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, was placed in the park in 1950. A small, pavilion-type ground floor house in the central part of the park, next to the swimming pools, was built in the 1950s, and in the 1960s, the venue was adapted into the children's cultural center by the Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia. After the 1960s, when the central pavilion with small pools was adapted for children's use, the park got its present appearance. In 1975 another monument was erected, dedicated to the victims of the 1941 bombing. In 1979 the park was declared a cultural monument. It marked the 120th anniversary of the Society of War Volunteers.
Characteristics
The park covers an area of .