Academic Park () is a park in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is situated in the neighborhood of Studentski Trg, in the downtown. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. Built from 1886 to 1889, Academic Park is one of the oldest parks in Belgrade.
Location
Academic Park is located halfway between the Republic Square (to the east) and the Belgrade Fortress (to the west). It is completely encircled by Studentski Trg, which is effectively turned into the four streets around the park.
Names
When formed, the park was called "Little Park" (Mali park) and later was renamed to "Pančić's Park" (Pančićev park). Today, it is officially named Academic Park, but colloquially it is also called "University Park" (Univerzitetski park) and "Students' Park" (Studentski park).
History
Roman period
Northern section of the park was excavated in 1968 in the project of building a furnace oil tank for the boiler room of the Belgrade's City Committee of the League of Communists located nearby. Under the lawn, the remnants of the ancient Roman thermae were discovered, including the frigidarium (room with the cold water), laconicum (room with the warm water where people would sweat and prepare) and caldarium (room with the two pools of hot water). The site became an archaeological dig in 1969 and 8 rooms in total were discovered, including the remains of the brick furnace which heated the water. It was a public unisex bath dated to 3rd or 4th century. The entire area of the park is actually within the borders of the "Protected zone of Roman Singidunum". It is situated in the area that used to be the civilian sector of the city, outside the fortress. The remnants were visible until 1978 and due to the lack of funds to continue excavations or to cover it with the roof or a marquee, the remains were conserved and buried again.
Great Market
Area of the park and the square surrounding it used to be a Turkish cemetery. At the beginning of the 19th century, farmers were selling goods at the entrances to the city. However, Turkish soldiers would often forcibly buy goods from them at the small prices, and then sell it themselves in the city for much higher amounts. After constant complaints from the farmers, vizier of Belgrade, after counseling with the city merchants, agreed to choose one place for the market. Market became operational in 1824. As per Serbian-Turkish agreement anyone could bring and sell goods, market quickly grew and became city's commercial center and was known as the Great Market (Serbian: Velika pijaca or Veliki pijac). Remaining, smaller part of Turkish cemetery, which was functional until the 1860s, was fenced by the local Turks to prevent further deterioration. After Turks completely withdrew from Belgrade and Serbia in 1867, the cemetery became overgrown with grass and was turned into the meadow, called "Little field" (Poljanče) by the local population.
Park
First modern Belgrade's urbanist Emilijan Josimović suggested dislocation of the market in 1867, as it was placed in the sole center of the city, and he deemed it inappropriate for the Great School to be across the market. He envisioned the social center or pedestrian square ("piazza") in the form of the park with tall deciduous trees instead. However, when the horse-drawn tram was introduced in Belgrade 1892, as it passed through this part of the city, the market actually bloomed even more. Josimović met with much resistance and only some time before his death, he persuaded city government to decide to split the market in two and to form a park in one of the sections. The open space area around the market, which was now a defunct Turkish cemetery, and the northwestern section were turned into the park, as Josimović originally envisioned. He also proposed for the nearby buffer zone between the city and the Fortress to be adapted into the Kalemegdan Park, as he considered parks the "air reservoirs". Some parts of the original park were constructed from the spring of 1886 to 1889, which was named Little Park.
The park was officially opened on 11 May 1897, just two weeks before Josimović's death. On the same day, the monument to Josif Pančić, work of sculptor Đorđe Jovanović was erected in the park. As the monument was covered with cloth for a long time, citizens colloquially nicknamed the square a "plateau of the bagged man". The Pančić monument was the first such monument in Belgrade, and the park was soon renamed to Pančič's Park.