User:Plavinci

Long time ago most hills on the right bank of the Danube between Belgrade and Smederevo were planted with vineyards. As sailors coming up the river passed the two islets at the town of Grocka, a hill would emerge to their left, first gentle sloping and than rising more sharply to about 120 meters above the river. This hill, covered in vines sprayed with copper and facing South-Southeast, would shine brilliant indigo-blue color in the morning sun. So they called it Plavinci, meaning Indigo Hills.

Wine went out of fashion for almost a hundred years and the XX century saw vegetable farms, apricot and sweet cherry orchards and, more than anything, weekend retreats of the emerging middle-class of Belgrade replace the vineyards. But the name and a few vineyards remained.

Villagers also call it Serbian California – the Danube creates a microclimate without early frosts and with milder winter temperatures. So when crops fail everywhere else, they thrive in Plavinci.

Plavinci is located in Serbia, about 30km East of Belgrade, arround coordinates 44°41'50"N - 20°41'17"E