Borča (Belgrade)

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Borča (Serbian Cyrillic: Борча) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula, just 8 kilometers north of the downtown Belgrade, in the Banat section of the municipality of Palilula. It stretches between the Zrenjaninski put road (which connects Belgrade to the town of Zrenjanin in Vojvodina 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 (Krnjača's neighborhood of Dunavski Venac) and to the north (suburban settlement of Padinska Skela).

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 III and IV century BC are also found. Because of the marshy area, not much is preserved, but the remains which confirm presence of the Iazyges, Sarmatians and Romans were found.

Borča was mentioned for the first time in 1375 under name Barcsa (or Bercse). Settlement belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, although its name imply possible Slavic root (Name Barcsa possibly derived from Slavic word "bara" meaning "swamp" in English, indicating the settlement's position in the swampy area of Pančevački Rit).

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 (Porača fort) 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.

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 (Alt Borcsa) 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. It was shortly taken by the Serbian army during World War I (6 September - 14 October 1914).

As Pančevački Rit is a floodplain, during extremely high levels of the Danube (especially in 1826, 1888 and 1924), 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 a 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 (future Yugoslavia), 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 (the District of Pančevo). Between 1941 and 1944 it was occupied by German troops and included into German-ruled autonomous region of Banat.

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.

Since 1960s Borča began a massive development with rapid population growth having an estimated population of 38,281 on 31 December 2007 (35,150 by the last official census in 2002). Population of 1910 is an official Austro-Hungarian census data, 1921-2002 are official Yugoslav and Serbian census data, 2007 is an estimate. Following the official data, Borča is the largest single suburb of Belgrade. However, unofficial estimates put Kaluđerica in first place.

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, Borča is divided into three "local communities" (mesna zajednica), sub-municipal administrative units: Stara Borča (foremerly Borča I), Borča Greda (formerly Borča II) and Nova Borča (formerly Borča III). Most of Borča is grouped into centers (Centar I to V), which are sometimes referred to as Borča I to V.