Arandjelovac
From royal spa to wine town—Arandjelovac's mineral springs attracted 19th-century aristocrats, now its Šumadija vineyards chase EU export markets.
Arandjelovac exists because mineral springs bubble up through Šumadija's limestone hills—and because royalty needed a spa. In 1859, Prince Mihailo Obrenović discovered the springs and built a summer residence here, transforming a rural village into Serbia's answer to Baden-Baden. The Bukovička Banja spa became the aristocratic retreat of the young Serbian state, its waters marketed as therapeutic for everything from liver disease to rheumatism. Even today, the town's identity is inseparable from its springs.
But water alone doesn't build economies. Šumadija's rolling hills and continental climate make it ideal for viticulture—the same conditions that made the region Serbia's wine heartland since Roman times. When Serbian wine production began its modern expansion after 2010, Arandjelovac's vineyards found new value. The town sits in one of Serbia's 56,000 hectares of vineyards producing 230 million liters annually. Local wines increasingly appear on European tables, though they remain overshadowed by established competitors.
The spa-to-wine evolution mirrors many post-Communist transitions: aristocratic heritage repackaged for tourism, agricultural tradition rediscovered for export. By 2026, Arandjelovac faces the question all secondary tourism destinations confront—whether to compete on volume with mass-market resorts or cultivate the niche appeal of mineral springs and boutique wineries. The springs will keep flowing either way; the economic model built around them is the variable.