Arilje

Serbia is among the largest raspberry exporters in the world, and Arilje is the heart of the growing area: the hills around the town are terraced with rows of canes, and in June and July the whole district turns out to pick, with seasonal workers arriving and the fruit going straight to cold stores and freezing plants. The variety grown is overwhelmingly Willamette, and the local name for the crop, red gold, reflects what it has meant to the local economy through decades when little else paid. The town itself has the thirteenth-century church of Saint Achilleus with well-preserved frescoes from around 1296, a Raška-school building that predates the raspberry entirely and is the other reason to stop.

History

In 1219 Sava Nemanjić made Arilje the seat of the Moravica episcopate, and in 1296 King Dragutin built the church of St. Achilleus. The house of Colonel Jovan Mićić of 1823 and the old school of 1834 are the oldest secular buildings, and Arilje became a town in 1880 (Wikipedia, Arilje).

Highlights

• Raspberry terraces - rows of canes across the surrounding hills.
• The harvest - picking, crates and cold stores through June and July.
• Saint Achilleus church - thirteenth-century frescoes in the town.
• Cold-store logistics - the industry the crop supports.

When to go

June and July for the harvest, which is the only time the picking is visible; the fruit ripens over several weeks. The church is open year round. Outside harvest the district is quiet farmland.

Practical notes

There is no organised agrotourism to speak of; seeing the harvest means driving the back roads and asking, and farms are working operations rather than attractions. Picking work is hard and low-paid, which is the reality behind the scenery. The town has limited facilities.

Nearby

Ovčar-Kablar gorge lies northeast; Zlatibor is southwest.

Key facts