Paunić Banja

Paunić Banja is a natural sulfurous hot spring spa in the municipality of Arilje in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia, where hydrogen-sulfide springs emerge in the forested valley landscape of the Rzav river tributary at the edge of the Zlatibor mountain plateau — one of Serbia's most beloved highland recreation areas celebrated for its traditional architecture, pine forests, and the Šargan Eight mountain railway, a UNESCO-heritage narrow-gauge train route through spectacular gorges. The sulfurous mineral waters of Paunić are used in the local spa tradition for treating skin, respiratory, and rheumatic conditions consistent with the well-established Serbian balneological heritage of western Serbia's mineral spring belt. The Zlatibor plateau setting — characterised by distinctive Serbian highland wooden architecture, the ethno-village of Sirogojno, and the Old Mountain nature park — creates a richly traditional rural Serbian landscape for this relatively undiscovered but therapeutically significant sulfurous spring spa.