Sports and recreational center worth EUR 5 million at the spring of "miraculous water" - Construction of hotel, spa center, swimming pools near Knjazevac in the pipeline

Zika Kaledzija Limar from Niska Banja spa resort was the first to have some concrete plans for the construction of a complex at the water spring near Rgosta. His plans to build swimming pools and baths were disrupted by the World War II, Dr Borislav Prvulovic wrote in his book Selo Nastalo od Banje Rgoste kod Knjazevca. The new plans for the site 3 kilometers away from Knjazevac, in the vicinity of Knjazevac-Nis road, should be fulfilled soon. The construction of the EUR 5 million worth of sports and recreational center (SRC) Rgoska Banjica, on the right bank of the Svrljig's Timok river, has been announced recently.

- The location of the swimming pool complex Banjica has been chosen as the building site for SRC Rgoska Banjica. It is a five-hectare lot on which accommodation capacities, swimming pools and a water park, as well as sports courts, will be built in phases - Nebojsa Ivankovic from the public company Directorate for Development, Town Planning and Construction of the municipality of Knjazevac says in an interview for eKapija.

As our interlocutor announces, the plan is to build a hotel complex with 80 beds in one-bed and two-bed rooms and suites.

- There is already an outdoor swimming pool in this area. Our plan is to build another outdoor swimming pool and an indoor pool. The construction of an aqua park with water slides and other attractions is also in the pipeline. The hotel complex should comprise a spa center, and it is possible that all spa facilities will be built because 29ºC water is supplied from the nearby thermal mineral spring – Ivankovic explains.

This thermal water will also be used in all water facilities and as a sanitary water in the accommodation section (hydro massage bathtubs), as well as for heating and cooling the complex by means of water-air heat pumps.

SRC Rgoska Banjica will also include sports courts - for basketball, volleyball, handball and tennis. The author of the main project design is Nis-based Kapaprojekt.

- The estimated value of this investment is about EUR 5 million, and it should be financed through the partnership between the local self-government, which should supply land, infrastructure and documentation, and private investors who are expected to provide concrete development programs and be in charge of both construction and, of course, use of facilities - says Ivankovic.

A location permit has already been issued for the entire complex, and the main project designs for infrastructure (plumbing, sewerage) and facilities within the complex (hotel, aqua park, spa center, etc.) are finished as well. As people at the public company Directorate for Development, Town Planning and Construction of the municipality of Knjazevac announce, a presentation of this complex is going to be held soon, after which they expect to draw even bigger attention of investors.

Rgoska Banjica and "miraculous water"

Rgoska Banjica is situated on the right bank of the Svrljig's Timok river, 5 kilometers southwest of Knjazevac, in the village of Rgoste, after which it got its name. It was considered a sacred place, a proof of which is Bolvan - a stone massive in the vicinity of this spa resort, on which the statues representing the deities of medicinal waters of this spa used to stand. There are several water springs in this area. Some of them emerge on the banks of the Svrljig's Timok.

Rgoste is the village that is famous in Serbia for its miraculous water. People living in this village say that that water cures Sciatica and helps in the treatment of nerve diseases.

Some of the tests showed that that mineral water can be successfully used in the treatment of locomotor, neurological and skin diseases. The side effects of the balneotherapy are manifested in acute and infectious diseases, tuberculosis, malignant, chronic and cardiac diseases, etc.