Ritopek

Ritopek (Serbian Cyrillic: Ритопек) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Grocka.

Location

Ritopek is located in the central part of the municipality, 20 km east of Belgrade and 19 km west of the municipal seat Grocka, on the right bank of the Danube, across the village of Ivanovo in Banat region of the Vojvodina province.

Population

Ritopek is statisticaly classified as a rural settlement (village). Historical population of Ritopek according to the official censa of population: [cite book |author= |date=2004 |title=Uporedni pregled broja stanovnika 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 i 2002 - podaci po naseljima |publisher=Republički zavod za statistiku |location=Belgrade|isbn=86-84433-14-9|language=Serbian]

* 1921 - 1,540
* 1948 - 1,892
* 1953 - 1,980
* 1961 - 1,956
* 1971 - 1,886
* 1981 - 2,002
* 1991 - 2,163 (de jure)
* 1991 - 2,045 (de facto)
* 2002 - 2,349 (de jure)
* 2002 - 2,284 (de facto)

History

In Roman times, Ritopek was called "Castra Tricornia" (Latin for "three-horned fortification") and had an important military camp. Its name originated from three distinctive hills dominating the landscape, one of which sank or was simply washed away into the Danube. Many silver coins and artefacts from that period were washed ashore once the Đerdap Dam was constructed. Ritopek is damaged practically every time the Danube spills over (like the floods in April 2006).

The elementary school in Ritopek was one of the first schools in Serbia, established in 1838. Together with the school, the villagers built the first church which finally took shape in 1868 and is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

Economy

Economy is almost entirely based on the agriculture, especially the intensive fruit growing with vast orchards around the village. The villagers mainly live off growing cherries, appricots and apples, and there are some remnants of vineyards. A summer festival, "Dani trešnje" ("Days of cherry") is held in the village. As the village is stretched almost 5 km along the road, new section on the road of "Smederevski put" is modern, commercially oriented (gas stations, restaurants, work shops, parking lots, etc), and connects urbanistically Ritopek with Boleč and Vinča, thus being the easternmost part of the continuous built-up area of Belgrade.

References