Discover Popovac

Popovac offers points of interest for visitors interested in sacred architecture, archaeological traces and rural cuisine. The wider destination of Općina Popovac also includes wine routes, longer hikes and other cultural heritage sites. This distinction is useful for planning: some historical connections are located right in the town, while others are part of the wider municipality.

Sacred architecture and archaeological traces

The parish church of sv. Josipa dates from 1778 and is considered a striking example of Baranja’s Baroque-Classicist sacred architecture. In 1769, Maria Theresa approved the construction of a single-nave Serbian church in Popovac; it is classified as sacred architectural heritage. The dates refer to different historical details: the year the parish church was built and the approval to build the Serbian church.

Popovac’s archaeological heritage includes Roman remains near Pogan, Mala Lačka and Logor, as well as ancient graves in Vodica–Sesije. The graves have not been fully documented. Taken together, these historical references span Roman traces to church buildings from the 18th century.

Rural tourism and cuisine

A 2014 article presented a rural tourism offering in Popovac featuring home-produced food and locally passed-down knowledge about preparing and preserving it. This offers a glimpse of a culinary tradition in which knowledge of how food is made and stored matters alongside the dishes themselves.

A description from 2014 lists a traditional Pannonian-style home setting, guest rooms, overnight accommodation, a dining room for up to 30 day visitors and a swimming pool at a rural tourism farmstead in Popovac. As these details date from 2014, you should check current availability before travelling.

Trails and excursion destinations in Općina Popovac

In the wider destination of Općina Popovac, you can choose Popovac as a starting point for one of Baranja’s wine routes. Nearby points of interest also include vineyards on the area’s hills and the Marija Lurd sanctuary. This gives you a choice of routes through wine country and a religious cultural destination when planning excursions.

The Baranjska planinarska obilaznica passes through the areas of the municipalities of Popovac, Draž and Kneževi Vinogradi. The route is 28 kilometres long and takes about nine hours on foot, including short breaks. This distance and walking time make it a long hike, not a short stroll. eBike Baranja offers several route suggestions with restaurants, wineries, cafés and cultural attractions as stops along the way.

Above the village of Popovac, on Zlatno brdo, is the OPG Milan Šarić estate. The tasting room accommodates 30 people; visits are by prior arrangement. From the terrace, beneath the pergolas and from the pool, there are uninterrupted views across the fields of Baranja. These details refer to the estate in the wider destination of Općina Popovac.

Other religious and historical connections

In the wider destination of Općina Popovac, Svetište Marija Lurd is considered the only Marian shrine in Baranja. According to oral tradition, its origins date back to 1916, during the First World War. The year should therefore be understood as the traditional date given for its origins.

Below the village of Branjina is Studenac, considered one of Croatia’s oldest Orthodox open-air shrines. There were also traces of the ancient Brana Monastery in the immediate vicinity of Branjina; its existence is associated with the mid-11th century. These two historical connections broaden the picture of religious and older history in the municipality without equating them with the sights in the town of Popovac.

For the wider travel overview: Općina Popovac.