Sokobanja is a well-known
spa townA spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
and municipality situated in eastern
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Population
In 2011 the population of the Sokobanja town is 7,972, while population of the whole municipality is 15,981. The population of the municipality includes 18,079
SerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
(97.35%), 190 Roma (1.02%) and 310 people of other nationalities (1.63%).
Features
Sokobanja is one of the most popular
tourist resorts in SerbiaSerbia stretches across two geographic and cultural regions of Europe: Central Europe and Southeast Europe. This boundary splits Serbia roughly in a ratio of 1:2 alongside the Danube and Sava rivers. The northern parts of the country are Central-European lowlands while the southern and central...
. It is situated in the southern part of Sokobanja valley, surrounded by mountains
OzrenOzren is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Sokobanja. Its highest peak Leskovik has an altitude of 1174 meters above sea level. Ozren is well-forested and attractive as a picnic ground for visitors to the Soko spa....
,
DevicaDevica is a mountain in eastern Serbia, near the town of Sokobanja. Its highest peak, Čapljinac has an altitude of 1187 metres above sea level...
, Janior,
RtanjRtanj is a village in the municipality of Boljevac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 182 people.-References:...
and
BukovikBukovik is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Ražanj. Its highest peak Bukova glava has an altitude of 894 meters above sea level....
. The
MoravicaThe Sokobanjska Moravica or simply Moravica is a river in central eastern Serbia, a 58 km-long right tributary to the Južna Morava river.- Devica and Ozren mountains :...
River runs through Sokobanja. It creates a canyon just 2 km before entering the town. Remains of the
RomanThe territory of what is today the Republic of Serbia was under Roman rule for about 600 years, from the 1st century BC until the Slavic invasions of the 6th century....
and later medieval Serbian fortress Sokograd stand today near the canyon of Moravica. Lake Bovan is situated some 10 minutes of drive to the west of Sokobanja. It is especially popular among fishermen. Special hospital for lung diseases is situated on Ozren mountain. Town center of Sokobanja is home to the 16th-century Turkish baths and 19th-century buildings of elementary school, Milošev konak and Serbian Orthodox church.