Old Arandjelovac in a New Spirit of Time

The project Bukovička banja at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century – 3D reconstruction is the first phase of the project Old Arandjelovac 3D Reconstruction. The History Department of the National Museum in Arandjelovac and creative team 3D History developed this project.

Bukovička banja started growing in the late 1930s when Doctor Emmerich Lindenmayer, a military doctor and a head of Hospital in a post-war restored Serbia, conducted first qualitative analysis of mineral water coming from the spring in Bukovik, introduced its healing properties and brought the first guests – the patients from the hospital in Šabac.

Mineral water, fresh air and peacefulness provided all necessary conditions to develop a spa underneath the foot of mountain Bukulja enclosing the springs of mineral water, whereas the comfort of the patients and guests was the concern of the Government. The first to be purchased was the area where the park started growing in the early 1950s and where the first spa bathroom Talpara (1851), the spring of mineral water Prince Mihailo (1865) and the bathroom Djulara (1865) were opened… By the end of 1950s, the park of Bukovička banja had its first horticultural appearance.
At the end of the 19th century Bukovička banja, and all other names that were assigned to it such as Banja Kisela voda or Arandjelovac’s banja, was one of the most popular spas in Serbia and it was arranged according to modern balneological principles and criteria for development the most leading European spas.

Owing to a major Government contribution and investments, there were built and furnished the hotel Staro zdanje (1872), Steam Bathroom or Ilidza for which the steam engines had been bought in Vienna (1875) and Stari Izvor (en. Old Spring), also called Prince Miloš spring. New pathways were built, music pavilions were set where people could listen to music all day long and Kur-salon was erected. In the late 1980s, an artificial lake was created in the centre of the park as the main tourist attraction.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Association for Embellishment of Bukovička banja took care of the arrangement of the park (1900-1910). During this period, not far from Prince Miloš spring, a monument to Prince Mihailo was built.

Those years, the Consortium of Arandjelovac, the rights lessee to exploitation of mineral water, built a new water intake structure of the old spring (making it more productive) and Prince Miloš Pavilion, a facility that was constructed according to the design of an architect Branko Tanazević where the first plant for mineral water packaging was set (1907).

It was one of the first facilities made of reinforced concrete in Serbia. Further on, find available a 3D film with a presentation of the park of Bukovička banja at the beginning of the 20th century.