Kožara

Kožara (Serbian Cyrillic: Кожара) is a river island ("ada") in Serbia, located on the left bank of the Danube. It is part of the Belgrade City proper and belongs to the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.

Kožara is a triangularly shaped island, located in the Banat section of the municipality of Palilula between the Danube and the "Jojkićev Dunavac" canal, ending section of the Vizelj stream in Pančevački Rit ("Jojkić's Little Danube", named so after the former mayor of Belgrade, Đurica Jojkić). Kožara covers an area of 0.44 km² and the name is Serbian for the "leather (island)".

The island is floodable, completely covered with forest and without permanent population. On the "Jojkićev Dunavac's" mouth into the Danube, across Kožara, a weekend-settlement of Mika Alas is located. There are several permanent elongated bogs on the island.

It represents an oasis of undisturbed natural life even though it is only 600 meters away from the old core of Belgrade (the neighborhood of Dorćol, right across the Danube). Despite this, in 2005 Belgrade City government announced that Kožara is the most likely site of the future much enlarged semi-artificial island envisioned as the twin-island of the Veliko Ratno Ostrvo, also on the Danube, but some 800 meters to the southwest. Unlike Veliko Ratno Ostrvo which is protected by the law and any human interference is prohibited, future Kožara (probably with changed name; temporary name for the time being is Čaplja) is projected as the island-aqua park and major tourist attraction. However, as of August 2006 no work has began on this project.

References

* "Beograd - plan grada"; M@gic M@p, 2006; ISBN 86-83501-53-1
* "Beograd - plan i vodič"; Geokarta, 1999; ISBN 86-459-0006-8