Aranđelovac and Its Inhabitants During the Serbo-Turkish War 1876–1878

Abstract

During the second half of the 19th century, Aranđelovac was the center of the Jasenički srez (district) within the Kragujevac okrug (county). It was well known for its mineral springs and the Bukovička Banja spa, which had been developed according to the standards of modern balneology by the early 1870s: in 1872, a new hotel was opened, later known as the “Staro zdanje” (Old Building); the modern steam bath (Parno kupatilo) was open for public in 1875; and the spa park was one of the best-designed and best-maintained spa parks in the country. This rapid rise of the small town and the spa was abruptly interrupted by the Serbo-Turkish Wars of 1876–1878. In both Serbo-Turkish Wars, residents of Aranđelovac participated as part of the Kragujevac, Rudnik, and Belgrade Brigades. Depending on which okrug the surrounding villages belonged to, militarily fit men from the territory of present-day Aranđelovac were mobilized into the Jasenički, Kolubarski, Kosmajski, or Kačerski battalions and took part in nearly all the battles and on all fronts. Previous researches have come to the data with the names of 111 killed and 34 wounded soldiers originating from the Aranđelovac area. Archival records on the participation of Aranđelovac residents are scarce, inscriptions on gravestones have been damaged by the passage of time, and family memories have been overshadowed by later, larger-scale, and bloodier wars. Today, 150 years later, it is necessary to conduct more detailed archival research and carry out fieldwork to locate and preserve epitaphs, as well as family recollections, in order to determine as accurate as possible the number of victims from the present-day territory of Aranđelovac in the Serbo-Turkish Wars of 1876–1878.