Ada Ciganlija

Ada Ciganlija (Serbian Cyrillic: , pronounced [ǎda tsiǎnlija]), colloquially shortened to Ada, is a river island that has artificially been turned into a peninsula, located in the Sava River's course through central Belgrade, Serbia. The name can also refer to the adjoining artificial Lake Sava and its beach. To take advantage of its central location, over the past few decades, it was turned into an immensely popular recreational zone, most notable for its beaches and sports facilities, which, during summer seasons, can have over 100,000 visitors daily and up to 300,000 visitors over the weekend. Owing to this popularity, Ada Ciganlija has been commonly nicknamed "More Beograda" ('Belgrade's Sea'), which was officially accepted as an advertising slogan in 2008, stylised as More BeogrADA.

Ada Ciganlija is located on the southern bank of the Sava River, 4 km from its mouth, and entirely belongs to Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Its eastern tip roughly borders the urban neighborhood of Senjak on the west (across an inlet called Čukarica Bay), and the body of the peninsula borders the neighborhoods of Čukarica and Makiš (both across Lake Sava). Across the river, Ada Ciganlija borders Novi Beograd (specifically residential blocks and the urban neighborhoods of Savski Nasip) and another artificial peninsula called Mala Ciganlija ("Little Ciganlija"). Between Ada Ciganlija and Novi Beograd lies Ada Međica, a wholly insulated river island.

Formerly an island, Ada Ciganlija is now an elongated peninsula, stretching for 6 km from west to east and 700 m from north to south at its widest, and covering an area of 2.7 km2. The entire Ada Ciganlija ecological complex, which stretches into the municipality of Novi Beograd, covers an area of 8 km2, including the islands of Ada Ciganlija and Ada Međica, waterways between the two Adas and Lake Sava, and some of Makiš itself. Lake Sava, formerly a branch of the Sava, was turned into a lake with two dams, while the remaining section on the northeast was turned into Čukarica Bay. There is another small lake on Ada Ciganlija itself, known as Ada Safari. Thanks to the combination of factors, Ada Ciganlija is privileged with a microclimate. Situated between a river, an artificial flowing lake, various islands, and a heavily wooded area, air humidity is heightened compared to the rest of the city, helping to nullify Belgrade's high temperatures during summer.

Lake Sava (Serbian: , Savsko jezero), often also referred to as Ada, was created from the right arm of the Sava with the building of two dams near the northern and southern tips of the island in 1967. The lake is 4.2 km (2.6 mi) long, has an average width of 200 m (660 ft) and is 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) deep. It covers and area of 0.86 km2 (0.33 sq mi) and is 78 m (256 ft) above sea level, one of the lowest areas of Belgrade. 7 km (4.3 mi) of its shores on both sides have been transformed into a gravel beach. The water regularly reaches 24 °C (75 °F) during summer. Both dams allow water to flow through tubes and pumps. This way, the main body of the lake is connected to the smaller body of water on the southwest, which is itself separated from the river by the third dam. This mini "buffer" lake called Taložnik ("depository") is used as a purifier for the waters of both Lake Sava and city waterworks, which also use this water. Filtered water is constantly being pumped into the lake while on the northeast, the water is pumped out by electrically powered pumps through another dam into Čukarica Bay. In this way, an artificial flow of water through the lake is created. Because the water is also used for drinking, sanitation and environmental protection of the lake are imperative and the lake is under rigorous environme

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