Dorćol

About Dorćol

By the ULTIMATE Belgrade Editorial Team

Dorćol runs down from Kalemegdan and the old town to the Danube, a grid of old streets in the very heart of the city.

The back story

Dorćol is the oldest surviving neighbourhood in Belgrade. Part of it lies on the civilian town of Roman Singidunum, and its name comes from the Turkish dört yol, “four roads”, after the crossroads at its heart. In Ottoman times it was a cosmopolitan merchant quarter of Turks, Serbs, Jews, Greeks, Tsintsars and Armenians, running down from the fortress to the Danube, where Belgrade’s Jewish community lived for centuries. The Bajrakli Mosque, the only one left in the city, still stands on Gospodar Jevremova.

In the 20th century Upper Dorćol became a district of elegant apartment houses, while Lower Dorćol, by the river, filled with workshops, warehouses and the Snaga i svetlost power station.

Strahinjića Bana is lined with cocktail bars and terraces, and the side streets hide speciality cafés, design studios and galleries.

Dorćol today

Since the 2000s Dorćol has been reborn as one of Belgrade’s most creative neighbourhoods, and Time Out named it among the coolest neighbourhoods in the world. Strahinjića Bana is lined with cocktail bars and terraces, and the side streets hide speciality cafés, design studios and galleries. The Danube Linear Park runs along the river, and Marina Dorćol is bringing a new riverside quarter to the old industrial bank.

Living here

Homes are older apartments, modern infill buildings and new riverside apartments by the marina. It suits young professionals and anyone who wants nightlife, Kalemegdan and the river on the doorstep.

Dorćol at a glance

Listings, fees and opening hours change, so please contact Dorćol directly before you visit.