СРБИЈА   SRBIJA	SERBIA
Рашки округ – Raški okrug	Raška district

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• lt: Vrniačka Bania • hr: Vrnjačka Banja
• el: Βρνιάτσκα Μπάνια
• ru: Врнячка-Баня • mk, sr: Врњачка Бања • bg: Върнячка Баня

Vrnjačka Banja, situated at an elevation of 252 m in the southwestern part of central Serbia in a densely forested and mountainous area, about 20 km southeast of the Kraljevo, the administrative seat of the district Raška, and about 137 km south-southeast of Belgrade. The municipality has a population of about 9,300 (2022). Vrnjačka Banja is the biggest spa town in Serbia and one of the most important tourist destinations of the country. The name Vrnjačka Banja comes from the nearby village of Vrnjci and can be translated as "Vrnjci Spa". Today, Vrnjci and Vrnjačka Banja are separate municipalities.

Archaeological finds show that the local springs were already used during the Byzantine period. Between the 2nd and 4th centuries, it was ultimately the Romans who founded the Aquae Orcinae at one of the hot springs. The medicinal benefits of the local waters are said to have been known during the Serbian and Ottoman Empires. To prevent the use of the springs by the Ottoman occupiers, the local population is said to have buried them. In fact, the springs are hardly mentioned in Ottoman documents. After the Serbian uprisings in the 19th century and the gradual consolidation of the political and economic situation, there was growing interest in the use of the springs. The oldest tourist organization on the Balkans, 'The Founding Association for the Prosperity of Vrnjačka Banja', initiated its modern development in 1868.

Glass no. 4800 [left] shows a view of the New Bathhouse of then Vrnjci, today Vrnjačka Banja.

The Villa Belimarković [near left, no. 724] was built in 1882–1887 for general Jovan Belimarković, the minister of King Milan Obrenović and the deputy of the minor King Aleksandar Obrenović. Until the 1970s the building had remained in possessoin of the family. Since then, it is owned by the Serbian state. After renovation in the 1970s, the building today houses the museum of local history with archaeological, ethnographic, historical art and natural history collections.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrnja%C4%8Dka_Banja, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrnja%C4%8Dka_Banja; http://fallingrain.com/world/RI/E2/Vrnjacka_Banja.html; https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr-el/%D0%94%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86_%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B%D0%B0_%D1%83_%D0%92%D1%80%D1%9A%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%98_%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%9A%D0%B8]