Borča


Borča is an urban settlement of the municipality of Palilula, Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2011, it has a population of 46,086 inhabitants.

Location

Borča is located just north of the downtown Belgrade, in the Banat section of the municipality of Palilula, at an altitude of. It stretches between the Zrenjaninski put road and the slow streams of Pretok, Sebeš and Vizelj, which flows through the middle of the marshy area of Pančevački Rit, the northern part of the municipality of Palilula.
As Borča developed, it stretched along the Zrenjaninski put to the south and to the north.

History

Early history

Earliest remains in the vicinity of modern settlement of Borča are from the Bronze and Iron Age, but the medallions, figurines and coins from the 3rd and 4th century BC are also found. Because of the marshy area, not much is preserved, but the remains which confirm presence of the Sarmatians and Romans were found.

Kingdom of Hungary and Ottoman Empire

Borča was mentioned for the first time in 1375 under name Barcsa. Settlement was under administration of the Kingdom of Hungary, although its name imply possible Slavic root. In 1537 it was captured by the Ottomans, included into the Sanjak of Smederevo and granted the waqf status. Already in 1567 Borča was predominantly settled by the Serbs when famous Jazak Gospel was written in it. During the Habsburg-Ottoman wars, Borča became center of the Ottoman border zone and was heavily fortified after the Treaty of Karlowitz but was still conquered by the Habsburgs in 1717 and by the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718 was formally handed over to the Habsburg Monarchy.

Habsburg Monarchy

After the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 Habsburg Monarchy obliged to tear down the fortifications, but due to the outbreak of the plague in 1743 the entire village of Borča was burned to the ground. The new settlement emerged around the sentry post of Stara Borča in 1794 which became center of a municipality as part of the Banat Krajina, a section of the Habsburg Military Frontier.
In 1848-1849, Borča belonged to the Serbian Vojvodina, a Serb autonomous region within Habsburg Monarchy, but in 1849 it was again placed under administration of the Military Frontier. After transformation of Habsburg Monarchy into the Austria-Hungary in 1867 and abolition of the Military Frontier on 27 June 1873 Borča became part of the Hungarian half of the monarchy, as part of the Pančevo district within Torontál comitatus, seated in modern Zrenjanin. In 1910, ethnic Serbs were in an absolute majority in Borča. Other ethnic groups in the settlement included Germans, Hungarians and Romanians. Borča was shortly taken by the Serbian army during World War I.

Yugoslavia and Serbia

As Pančevački Rit is a floodplain, during extremely high levels of the Danube, entire area and settlements in it were completely flooded turning the marsh into a large lake. It was recorded that during the floods of 1924, rescue ships had to maneuver between the telephone poles and that dead were buried from the boats. In 1929-1933 an 89 kilometer-long embankment was built which protected Borča from further floodings. At the same time, road and railway connecting Borča to Belgrade were also built.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Borča became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, being taken by the Serbian army on 9 November 1918. From 1918 to 1922, it was part of the Banat county, from 1922 to 1929 part of the Belgrade oblast, and from 1929 to 1941 part of the Belgrade City Administration. Between 1941 and 1944 it was occupied by German troops and included into German-ruled autonomous region of Banat, which was a part of Serbia.
In 1949 the municipality was disbanded and the entire area of Pančevački Rit became IX Raion of Belgrade. Borča got its own municipality again on 30 May 1952 but in 1955 with municipalities of Ovča, Krnjača and Padinska Skela merged into one named Krnjača. In turn, this municipality was annexed to the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula in 1965.

Population

In 1727, 39 households were recorded in the settlement. In 1843 it had 675 inhabitants while in 1859 there were 124 households. In 1910, by the last census in Austria-Hungary in had a population of 1,535. Since the 1960s Borča began a massive development with rapid population growth having a population of 46,086 by the official census in 2011.
Following the official data, Borča is the largest single suburb of Belgrade. However, unofficial estimates put Kaluđerica in first place. Borča is statistically classified as an urban settlement.

Ethnic structure

Ethnic structure of Borča :
As one of the largest suburbs of Belgrade and a large settlement in its own right, Borča developed several sub-neighborhoods of its own. Officially, after the 1981 census, Borča is divided into three "local communities", sub-municipal administrative units: Stara Borča, Borča Greda and Nova Borča. Most of Borča is grouped into centers, which are sometimes referred to as Borča I to V.

Stara Borča

Local community of Stara Borča occupies the entire southern section of the settlement. It extends on both sides of Zrenjaninski put and comprises most diverse neighborhoods of Borča: the original, oldest section in the south-west, those closest to Belgrade, easternmost sections which extends to Ovča and the south-western extension in the direction of the Danube. It had a population of 7,928 in 1991, 13,624 in 2002 and 20,188 in 2011.
Local community of Nova Borča occupies the east-central corner of Borča. Unlike Stara Borča and Borča Greda, it comprises only one sub-neighborhood, Centar III. It had a population of 9,640 in 1991, 14,875 in 2002 and 7,298 in 2011.
Local community of Borča Greda occupies the entire northern section of the settlement, extending on both sides of Zrenjaninski put. The fastest growing sections of Borča, like Pretok or Mali Zbeg, are located in this local community, so it more than doubled its population between the 2002 and 2011 censuses: 9,327 in 1991, 8,087 in 2002 and 18,600 in 2011.
Large cemetery of "Zbeg" is located just north of the neighborhood. Plan for the cemetery was adopted in 1994, and in 1996 "Zbeg" became operational. Chief planner was architect Slobodanka Prekajski. The cemetery covers an area of and has no church, but the Church of the Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas is located nearby.
There are only few parks in Borča, and they are small. One, called Mali park, is located in Borča I.
Another, called Park Centar 3 is located along the curve of the Ratnih vojnih invalida Street, at the Borča 3 roundabout of the bus lines 85, 95, 96 and 105L. It covers an area of and was renovated in November 2017.