Karaburma

Karaburma (Карабурма) is an urban neighborhood of the municipality of Palilula, Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2002, it has a population of 55,343 inhabitants. The name, Karaburma, is Turkish for black ring which is supposed to mean that the area was forbidden, that is, it should be avoided by people. However, this may be an example of folk etymology as the old Ottoman and Austrian maps name the area Kajaburun (Kaya-burun) which is Turkish for rocky headland. Chronicler Milan Milićević confirms this, using also the name Kajaburma as the mid-variant of the name, referring to Karaburma as the "nose" of the hill which descends into the Danube. Karaburma was geographically a headland peaking into the Danube. It was the ending section ("nose" or "point") of the Great Vračar hill, today called Zvezdara, which descended in slopes where modern neighborhoods of Karaburma and Ćalije are today, plunging into the river. When the neighboring island of Ada Huja was connected to the mainland thus becoming a peninsula, Karaburma's area on the right bank of Danube also became known as Ada Huja, so Karaburma is now a few hundred meters away from the river. In the expansion of the population of jackals in the outskirts of Belgrade since the 2000s, the animals were reported in Karaburma in the spring of 2022. The oldest settlement known by name on the territory of modern Belgrade was found in the Karaburma area. Remains of the Celtic (and later Roman) settlement of Singidunum were found near Karaburma and neighboring Rospi Ćuprija, including necropolis (Horseman's grave 16) rich in artifacts and parts of dunum, fortress, so it is believed that the settlement itself was located here. These remains represent a limited archaeological evidence as there were almost no traces left of the Celtic town, except for them. The necropolises contained valuable artistic artifacts which belonged to the warriors of the Scordisci tribe. An apparent Celtic cultural influences have been woven into the spiritual culture of the Singidunum inhabitants, and later mixed with Roman classical cultural elements.