Nusic made well-known Serbian spa famous: It's named after a bird that discovered healing springs

Printscreen: YouTube/Jovana Jovic /Sokobanja

In order to help his friend sell postcards in Sokobanja, the famous Serbian classic comedy writer Branislav Nusic wrote a new slogan on one of them, which would make this spa famous. Today, for many, "Sokobanja, Soko Grad - you come old, you leave young" is perhaps the first thing they associate with one of the oldest spas in Serbia.

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Located at an ideal altitude of 400 meters, Sokobanja (the name comes from the Serbian words for falcon - "soko" and spa - "banja") boasts an excellent position because of the nearby mountains Ozren and Rtanj, but also because of the Sokobanjska Moravica River, which flows through it.

Apart from hot water springs, there are also lukewarm water springs in Sokobanja. Their healing properties have been proven in many cases.

Healing properties discovered by accident

Although the available data shows that during the reign of Serbian Prince Milos Obrenovic, organized spa tourism officially began to take off, it is believed that the healing properties of the spa water had been known before.

Since 1837, when an official document confirmed that a certain Mr. Lazarevic had been sent for treatment to Sokobanja, and no less than by a decree of the Serbian prince, spa tourism began to develop here.

Over time, many heard of this spa, so in addition to Branislav Nusic, many other famous people stayed here, not only authors, but also politicians and artists.

It's interesting that in the mid-18th century, apart from spa water, leeches were also used extensively in treatments.

Photo: Telegraf.rs

The legend about how the spa water's healing properties were discovered in the first place is passed from generation to generation. The main hero of that folk legend is none other than a falcon.

When in ancient times one of the rulers of nearby Sokograd ("Falcon Town") fell from his horse, he realized that he had many fractures. It happened right in the valley, where this spa is located today. Unable to move, he just resigned himself to dying.

And then a falcon came onto the scene. The master of the Falcon Town (Sokograad) watched her silently.

As the bird's wing was broken, she came there to "recover" but the master did not know that. According to that legend, something incredible happened next. The falcon briefly dipped the injured wing into a spring of spa water and recovered very quickly.

That is why the master of Sokograd collected what little strenght he had left, and after bathing in the source of the healing water, he recovered immediately.

Very quickly, the healing properties of spa water became known far and wide, so many people started coming here to heal themselves. Everyone felt some benefit from it, and some built houses nearby, and stayed there to live and enjoy the healthy air and the healing water of Sokobanja.

(Telegraf.rs)