It's been a while since I've covered Serbian stories. And this one comes with a whole legend involving wars and gold.

In the late 19th century, Samuel Minch, a German Jew from Czech Moravia, moved to Serbia and opened a textile factory in Paracin. Business was booming, and with extra capital on hand, his eldest son Julius convinced his father to invest in nearby coal deposits. This is how the first mines near Rtanj came to be.

Julius and his wife Greta mainly oversaw the coal mining operations. The business grew until World War I broke out. Eastern Serbia fell under German occupation, and the Minchs had to flee. After the war, they managed to reclaim their property. However, soldiers had heavily damaged the mines before retreating. It took rebuilding almost from scratch.

In 1931, Julius committed suicide. No one ever figured out exactly why. Greta took over all the coal operations, and to honor her late husband, she began building a church on top of Rtanj. I'm not entirely sure why a Jewish family decided to build an Orthodox church as a memorial to a deceased relative, but that's how it happened.

Over a thousand workers participated in the construction. Materials were delivered by donkeys (it's practically a vertical kilometer up there!). The project was completed in 5 years, in 1937.

Then World War II happened. The Germans seized everything again. But this time, there was no getting it back. After defeating Nazi Germany, Tito's officials decided that the German surname of this Jewish family was a clear sign of collaboration, and they nationalized everything.

In 1969, treasure hunters blew up the church. There's a legend that a wizard's palace once stood in this area with lots of gold hidden at the summit. By the 1970s, a real gold rush began here. Of course, no gold was ever found.

Rtanj in general attracts a lot of legends. From certain angles, its shape resembles a pyramid. This theory didn't reach Bosnian proportions, but some people genuinely believe in it. In 2012, some folks were planning to take shelter here from the end of the world. And Rtanj tea made from mountain savory is considered almost medicinal.