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.
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
thumb|right|250px|Winter in Košutnjak
In the 19th century, Košutnjak was a fenced hunting ground and royal excursion place for the members of the Obrenović dynasty. 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. 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").
In the 1980s, Košutnjak hosted one of the most popular Belgrade's disco clubs, "Panorama".
Wildlife
Plants
thumb|250px|[[Platanus trees]]
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.
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 .
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;
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. 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.
In February 2020, citizens again protested as they noticed continued massive tree cutting. State company "Srbijašume", which administers forests, claimed that this was planned and controlled cutting of the forest in the areas where trees reached 70 years of age. The affected territory covers and it was claimed that 5,400 new seedlings will be planted instead.
In June 2020, plans for further, massive reduction of the forest were announced. City's detailed regulatory plan for the Filmski Grad neighborhood, which occupies the entire southwest section of Košutnjak, includes construction of the new residential complex for 8,000 people, with numerous luxurious dwellings and expensive hotels. It also includes cutting of the of forest, which will from be reduced to in two separated forested pockets. The planned objects will cover almost 10 times more area than they do now. Entire plan actually covers , of which , where the forest is located, belongs to the investor, private "Avala Studios" company. The investor then stated they will keep only of forest, because everything else is "worthless" and that forest doesn't exist. City officials either said it was too early to assess the situation (chief urbanist Stojčić) or openly, with all the evidence and statements to the contrary, said that everything is a lie and that forest will not be cut (deputy mayor Goran Vesić). As the project includes revitalization of Filmski Grad film studios, the city plan also claims that development of film industry in this area is one of the government's priority, but the government made no such decision.
This section of the forest is not protected. Citizens, already annoyed by the policy of the present administration to cut trees all over the urbanized city area and organized in various groups, coordinated protests and petitions, accusing city officials of hiding behind the COVID-19 pandemic to push bad and corruptive projects. Serbian section of Europa Nostra, pan-European umbrella organization for Europe's cultural and natural heritage, examined the plan, stating that the film studios are only used as the pretext for the massive luxurious construction and that projects is opposed to the public interest. They also suggested that the investor should be obliged to only reconstruct existing objects, not to enlarge them tenfold.
Over 30,000 citizens signed the petition, while experts teams, which included four deans and heads of Belgrade University's faculties and institutes, lodged over 7,000 complaints to the city. They stressed that even the green areas of less quality must be preserved. City responded by informal confirmation that the project will not be changed and by banning the public inspection of this, and all other plans, citing COVID-19 pandemic, just one day after the petition was filed.
Features
Aerial lift
In 1922 company "Čavlina and Sladoljev" from Zagreb drafted the project of connecting two banks of the Sava river by the cable car. In 1928, building company "Šumadija" again proposed the construction of the cable car, which they called "air tram" but this project was planned to connect Zemun to Kalemegdan on Belgrade Fortress, via Great War Island. The interval of the cabins was set at 2 minutes and the entire route was supposed to last 5 minutes. The project was never realized. Engineer and CEO of the Yugoslav institute for urbanism and dwelling "Juginus", Mirko Radovanac, revived the idea in the 1990s. After conducting extensive surveys (traffic analysis, interviews with the commuters, climatic, geological, urban and other researches), "Juginus" presented the project in 1993. They proposed that the termini should be at the Sports Center Košutnjak and Block 44 in the neighborhood of Savski Blokovi in New Belgrade, across the Sava. Stops in between would include the major public transportation roundabout in Banovo Brdo, Makiš and Ada Ciganlija, five in total. They called it the "ideal route". The plan also included construction of commercial areas around the termini, which would cover and help with the profitability of the project.
Apart from being ecological and an attraction, it was estimated that it would shorten the trip for 45 minutes. City government included the project into the city's GUP, which envisioned the construction in phases, the first being a long section Block 44-Ada Ciganlija. It would lay on 8 steel pillars, above the ground and the trip would last for 3 minutes. The cabins were projected to receive not just the commuters, but also the bicycles, skateboards, sledges and skis, as the cableway was planned to work year-round. The complete facility would have 27 pillars; it would be long which would be travelled in 15 minutes by 2,000 commuters per hour. After announcing relocation of the Belgrade Zoo to Ada Ciganlija in February 2023, mayor Aleksandar Šapić announced that the project was greenlighted, stating that previously publicly unknown city project from 2009 will be reactivated.
Arboretum
New building of the Faculty of forestry was built in 1956, right above Careva Ćuprija, where the northwest section of the vast wood of Košutnjak begins at an altitude of 110–125 meters. Professors and students began developing a dendrology collection in 1957, which grew into the Arboretum of the Faculty of Forestry, a specific botanical garden which was protected by the state in July 2011 as the natural monument. It is used as an open-air classroom, for the practical studies of the students but also by the scientist for their work. The arboretum has its nursery garden and the greenhouse. On 6.7 hectares, the arboretum holds 2,000 individual specimen of 300 trees and shrubs. They include 218 deciduous and 24 conifer species, out of which 80 are ornamental, and 40 species of the perennial plants. There are 77 domestic and 146 foreign species, including: narrow-leafed ash, Balkan maple, Balkan forsythia, laburnum, giant sequoia, cedar, cherry laurel (new variety developed in arboretum), Himalayan pine and the oldest metasequoia in Belgrade.
Hajdučka Česma
thumb|250px|Hajdučka Česma
Hajdučka česma (Hajduks' drinking fountain) is a natural spring, which is one of the most prominent destinations for the picnickers, especially as the most popular location of the traditional Prvomajski uranak ("Labour Day early outing"), celebration of May 1, Labour Day, in Belgrade.
Several rock concerts were held at the fountain, including bands Siluete in 1969, and Pop Mašina in 1972 and 1973, when, as an opening act, performed Goran Bregović's band Jutro, precursor of Bijelo Dugme. On 28 August 1977 a spectacular concert of the rock group Bijelo Dugme was held. With an attendance of over 100,000, it is considered as one of the seminal events in the history of Yugoslav rock,
When German emperor Wilhelm II arrived in Belgrade in 1916, a large stone bench was built for him by the German soldiers. So as the monument, it was made from the marble which Belgrade municipality purchased in 1911 and which was planned for the reconstruction of the central city square Terazije and the Terazije fountain. The bench was placed on the point on the hill from which the emperor could see the entire Belgrade below.
By the 21st century, the cemetery deteriorated a lot. One monument to the German soldiers is in bad shape and it is believed that the Serbian soldiers were transferred to the joint ossuary for the World War I soldiers in the Belgrade New Cemetery. The other German monument is today within the yard of a privately owned school, while Belgrade is no more visible from the spot as the Košutnjak forest expanded and completely engulfed the area. The only remaining visible mark of the cemetery itself is part of the fence. starting in the summer of 1946. The settlement was opened for public in 1949. Majority of the complex got its present look in the 1960s. The central, multi-functional building with the adjoining substation transformer, was finished in 1976. Numerous underground shelters survived. A process of step-by-step reconstruction began in 2014. By 2017 the hall and the sports terrains have been renovated, the house of "Big Brother" was demolished and all objects have been vacated awaiting the reconstruction in 2018. Number of children visiting the premises during the year grew to 12,000 in 2016.
The works however didn't start, though the settlement's "return to the children" was reiterated on yearly basis by the city officials. Additional attractions, like the rollercoaster, were not mentioned anymore. In February 2022, city again announced reconstruction of the main hall, adaptation of the former "Big brother" hall into the indoor swimming pool, and demolition of the bungalows as the new ones should be built.