Orient Express, jam factory and country fairs to remember: The forgotten history of Mladenovac

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

Mladenovac is located in the valley of Veliki Lug, near Mt. Kosmaj. It is a municipality and settlement that belongs to the City of Belgrade.

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According to the legend, it was named after a certain Mladen who came to this part of Serbia 200 years after the Kosovo Battle with his brothers Rajko and Vlajko. Their families formed three villages - Mladenovac, Vlaska and Rajkovac.

By a decree of King Aleksandar Obrenovic from 1893, Mladenovac received the status of a town, and in 1971 it became a municipality beloging to the capital.

It is little known that one of the first jam factories in Serbia was opened in Mladenovac. At the end of the 19th century, this area was famous for country fairs that featured lamb and pork barbecues, and this tradition is still preserved today. What the people of Mladenovac are especially proud of is the fact that the Orient Express, the most famous train the world, passed through their town for a full 37 years.

In the tourist sense, Mladenovac is marked by Selters Banja (Spa) and Kosmaj, and less often by Koracicka Banja. The water in Selters is similar in chemical composition to the healing spa waters in Germany, France and the Czech Republic.

If you ask locals in Mladenovac about the advantages of living in their area, almost everyone will tell you that it is the vicinity of Kosmaj, a low mountain in Sumadija that dominates the landscape in the form of an island.

Beech, oak and occasional coniferous forests that are home to squirrels, rabbits and pheasants, more than 300 species of mushrooms and as many as 95 springs, represent a challenge for both hikers and picnickers who want to spend time in nature.

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

(Telegraf.rs)