The history of Alpine tourism in Serbia starts in the 1930s on the slopes of Kopaonik. The mountain hosted Serbia’s alpine sports competitions from 1936 until the start of WWII in Serbia. Back then, the only structure on the slopes of Kopaonik was a mountain hut, destroyed during the war.
The development of Kopaonik re-started in 1948 with the construction of Olga Dedijer mountain hut (which, after suffering several fires, stood at the same place as the original), and the budding resort got its first ski piste a year later, which went from Pančić’s peak down to Karaman. The subsequent development was “Vila pod sunčanom dolinom”, a military resort which eventually became hotel Putnik.
Kopaonik’s most serious development as a ski resort as well as its look is due to Slobodan Mitrović Kobi, a Valjevo native, who participated in the development of Kopaonik since 1970 as the CEO of Genex Kopaonik. The project cost 130 million dollars, and Mitrović, a keen outdoorsman, managed to wrangle political and financial support for his dream from Genex, the wealthiest state-owned import-export firm in SFRY-era Serbia. He also created the Kopaonik style, based on vernacular Serbian architecture, which has its best expression.
The first and most glamourous Genex hotel in Kopaonik was Karavan, later Grand, built in 1981 when Kopaonik was officially listed as a ski resort. From the start, it had a white facade with prominent wooden details in a traditional bondruk house style. In its expansion to become Grand, it got amazing amenities, especially its huge spa, but it also changed its interior, which was very much 80s luxe until the latest facelift in 2020s.
Besides Grand, Genex also built a slightly out-of-the-way Srebrnac, which still exists and retains the 1980s Yughotel vibes , as well as Bačište, designed by Mitrović, destroyed in the 1999 NATO bombing. I stayed in Bačište with my parents for one New Year’s eve in the 1990s and still remember the smell of its timber walls and the cavernous corridors where the kids played. The hotel also had a huge fire pit in the middle of the dining room.
Perhaps the best expression of the Kopaonik style is found in Konaci, designed by Relja Kostić.
Kostić took inspiration for Konaci from the architecture of Serbian medieval monasteries as well as Mitrović’s neo-vernacular style. Konaci is named after (monastery) dormitories, while the tower which dominates the apartment complex (and used to dominate over the whole resort) is a reference to “pirgs”, which served a defensive purpose for monks.
There are also political overtones to the style of Konaci: in the 1980s, all Yugoslav states went through processes of national revival. Serbia was preparing to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, and medieval symbolism became increasingly popular. Individual houses within Konaci were named after Serbian medieval fortresses ( while the fountain at the centre has medieval coats of arms and names of the Serbian monasteries. The whole complex was finished a year before the great jubilee, in 1988.
The most exciting addition to the complex since 2019 is the church of Sts. Cyrill and Methodius, which also embraces the mountain style with prominent wooden beams. Although most new hotels (Gorski, Viceroy) depart from the “bondruk” style, Kopaonik still looks relatively harmonious and should, as such, be praised for its uniformity.
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