Padinska Skela

Padinska Skela or colloquially Padinjak (Serbian Cyrillic: Падинска Скела or Падињак) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.

Location

Padinska Skela is located in the northern, Banat section of the municipality, 15 kilometers north of downtown Belgrade, on the "Zrenjaninski put" road which connects Belgrade with the town of Zrenjanin, in Vojvodina. It is built right in the middle of the Pančevački Rit, major floodplain between the rivers of Danube and Tamiš.

History

The settlement originates from the late 1940s when melioration of Pančevački Rit began. The settlement became important immediately, being in the center of the area which was turned from marshy floodplain into a very fertile arable land for the PKB company. It was part of the municipality of Borča until May 30, 1952, when became seat of its own municipality. In 1955 merged into the municipality of Krnjača which, in turn, became part of the municipality of Palilula in 1965.

Population

Originally the settlement grew slowly, as many smaller settlements were scattered all over the Pančevački Rit, growing around the solitary and outer farms. In the 1970s however, most of those settlements were administratively merged into the central one, Padinska Skela, even though some of them are kilometers away from it and separated by vast fields. As a result of this administrative measures, the population of Padinska Skela apparently boomed, but almost right away began experiencing depopulation. Population of Padinska Skela according to the official censuses:

* 1971 – 2,412
* 1981 – 10,311
* 1991 – 10,023
* 2002 – 9,836

Ethnic structure (2002): Serbs 88,21 %, Roma 4,04 %, Macedonians 0,83 %, Yugoslavs 0,55 %, Muslims 0,52%, Gorani 0,50 %.

Neighborhoods

Some of sub-settlements of Padinska Skela are far away from it, like Glogonjski Rit, Jabučki Rit, Široka Bara or Vrbovski. In a strange administrative decision, ten times smaller Kovilovo, which almost makes a continuous built-up area with Padinska Skela, is officially classified as a separate settlement. Urban core of Padinska Skela consists of several neighborhoods, like Tovilište, Novo Naselje, Staro Naselje, Srednje Naselje or Industrijsko Naselje.

Tovilište

One of oldest sections of Padinska Skela, consisting of some 30 concrete buildings of very bad quality, built 1950–1970 for first settlers with PKB's farms in the vicinity of the neighborhoods. The name, "tovilište", is Serbian for "cattle feeder".

Staro Naselje

Older section, consisting of some 30 concrete buildings of very bad quality, built 1950–1970. Mostly old warehouses and depots turned into a residential apartments. Today almost exclusively inhabited by the Roma people. The name means "Old Settlement" in Serbian.

Srednje Naselje

Consists of some 15 five-store buildings built 1974–1978. The name means "Middle Settlement" in Serbian.

Novo Naselje

The largest neighborhood, with some 50 buildings mostly built in the 1980s, with some constructed in the 2000s. The name means "New Settlement" in Serbian.

Industrijsko Naselje

Location of the PKB's dairy branch, IMLEK factory for milk production. The name means "Industrial Settlement" in Serbian.

Characteristics

Padinska Skela is still statistically classified as a rural settlement (village).

For the Belgraders, Padinska Skela gained a certain level of notoriety as it is a location of both Mental hospital "Padinska Skela" and one of the major correctional facilities in Serbia, the "Padinska Skela" prison. Settlements nickname, Padinjak, is used for both institutions in colloquial conversation.

А sports and agricultural Lisičji Jarak Airport is located near Padinska Skela, so as a modern BG Sport and Olympic Centre in the nearby Kovilovo, opened in 2005.