Travel Guide Rakovica (Раковица)

The first settlement on the territory of present-day Rakovica was mentioned in the census of the Ottoman population in 1560: the village is called Vlaha. Tradition has it that the place got its name from the Serbian rak ("crayfish"), an animal that is said to have inhabited the Rakovički potok, a river running through the village. The first mention of the monastery, already named Rakovica, dates from the 17th century. The village gradually became a suburb, then a neighborhood of Belgrade, and one of the most industrialized areas of the city. According to the 1981 census, the neighborhood (local community, mesna zajednica) of Rakovica had a population of 17,871, or about one-fifth of the municipal population, and has since grown to a total of 108,413 in 2011 (at the last census). The neighborhood suffered well during the Nato bombings of Yugoslavia, at the time, Rakovica was the only municipality in Belgrade to be bombed almost every night, then eventually every day. The heaviest attacks targeted the Straževica hill (under which a Yugoslav base was located), as well as the "monastery forest", probably because anti-aircraft batteries were spotted there. Most of the municipality suffered collateral damage, notably when a fuel tank exploded during an attack. The district is still famous for its monastery, which is now in rather sad shape.