Serbia · Central Serbia

Šumaričko jezero

Directions

Шумаричко језеро

Šumaričko jezero is an artificial lake on the edge of Kragujevac, within the Šumarice memorial park, held back by a concrete dam about 220 m long. For decades it was the city’s favourite summer swimming place, and families still walk its promenade in the evening and feed the swans and ducks.

History

The memorial park commemorates the Kragujevac massacre of 21 October 1941, when German soldiers shot nearly 2,800 people, mostly men and boys, among them high-school students, and buried them in mass graves here. The park, now called October in Kragujevac, was founded in 1953. It holds the 21st October Museum and monuments including the Interrupted Flight, dedicated to the murdered students and their teachers.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

The lake has seen better days: most of the old beach facilities are closed or broken, and in 2026 the restrooms were out of order and the new restaurant had not opened, though showers worked. A sewage leak into the lake was reported in 2024, and in the summer of 2026 the bathing season opened only in late July, with buoys around part of the beach and a sign at the entrance saying that the beach was not operating and that people swim at their own risk.

Check the current water quality and lifeguard cover before swimming. A walk along the promenade combines well with a visit to the memorial park and its museum.