Letters from Serbia: Subotica, charming Town of Northern Serbia…

My dear travellers, how are you today? In the past few months, due to a situation called Corona, the way of life has changed. Unfortunately, a lot of human lives have been extinguished, people’s consciousness has changed and we have started to take more care of ourselves and our health. Many companies closed down, and lot of people lost their jobs and unfortunately this is global thing. The economy has been seriously affected, especially tourism as a sensitive activity has suffered great damage.

This year will be dedicated to domestic and regional tourism because those are the only possibilities of this tourist season. I sincerely hope that everyone will be able to plan their vacation in the best possible way and get to know their country and region a little better.

I am sure that at least some of you had a feeling of desperation and helplessness during this period, so I tried in every way to find some kind of inspiration. I was helped by a one work assignment given to me by a fashion label and their only request was to take pictures in some interesting environment and to find some interesting city in Serbia.

After searching for some interesting destinations in Serbia on the Internet, pictures of the city of Subotica gave me inspiration for work and I decided to sit in the car and visit this gem in the very north of Serbia.

Do you want to start a new adventure? It is a question that goes through my head every day and I believe that each of us sometimes needs a change of environment, at least for a short time to escape from the daily routine. When I set off my road trip for Subotica, I felt great excitement because I didn’t know what was waiting for me there, and the pictures were promising.

Subotica is the northernmost city in Serbia and the second most populous in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. A city with its interesting geographical position in the heart of the Northern Bačka district. Throughout history, many names have been used to show the beauty of this unusual center of Hungarian Art Nouveau.

During the history, the city changed about 200 names. You must be wondering why? Subotica is a city where people of different ethnic origins lived from the Middle Ages until today, and it was also under the rule of several different conquering forces. It is interesting that all the inhabitants wrote about Subotica and gave the name of the city in accordance with the spelling and grammar rules of their language, but in most cases, they have not changed the way they are pronounced until today.

Today’s name of the city of Subotica comes from the word that means the day of the week “Saturday” and first officially appears in the middle of the 17th century. However, the opinion of the inhabitants is that the town was named after Subota Vrlić, the treasurer of Emperor Jovan Nenad.

Of course, as always, there are more legends that have been passed down from generation to generation and more sources of information, but I think that these two assumptions about the origin of the name of the city of Subotica are true. Do you perhaps know what was the official first name of this city?

Some historical writings prove to us that the first officially documented name of the town was Zabatka, which dates from the 15th century. There are various theories of the history of the origin of this name. According to one of the theories, it is actually one of the variants of today’s name of the city in the Hungarian language, which reads Szabadka.

In accordance with this theory, this word derives from the adjective Szabad, which in Hungarian means “free” and the suffix “-ka”, which is interpreted as a diminutive – diminutive. Therefore, in the free translation of the original name of today’s Subotica, we can interpret it as a “small” or “free, lovely place”.

Subotica is certainly one of the most intriguing cities in Serbia because it has the largest number of buildings built in the spirit of modern artistic architecture. The town house and synagogue, which were built at the beginning of the 20th century, stand out because of their timeless beauty.

They were built according to the plan of the same team of Hungarian architects, Mr. Marcell Komor and Dezso Jakab. Another marvel of the architecture of the Hungarian Art Nouveau in Subotica is the Reichl Palace, built by the architect Ferenc Reichl as his masterpiece of life. Once the palace was his home and office, today it is an object of exceptional cultural significance where the Gallery of Modern Art “Art Encounter” is located.

Church buildings such as the Cathedral of St. Theresa of Avila, the Franciscan monastery, the Orthodox Church and the Hungarian synagogue built in the Art Nouveau style typical of the early 20th century are some of the sacral buildings you can visit in Subotica.

The Cathedral of St. Teresa of Avila was built in the late 18th century in a typical Baroque style. Subotica was part of the Habsburg monarchy at that time. The cathedral was designed by a Hungarian architect named Franz Kaufmann. On the roof of the church, between the two bell towers, there is a statue of the Virgin Mary.

You must be wondering how the crack in the central part of the building was created? Construction experts believe that the two bell towers began to sink and that they were gradually pulling the church nave to their side, as a result of which a crack appeared in the very middle of this sacral building.

This mistake was made in the construction of the church itself, and a little crack caused a serious crack, which experts have been trying to repair for years. It is believed that due to the excessive pressure exerted by the bell towers, which are higher and heavier than the central part of the building, the subsidence of the terrain additionally affects and in that way a crack was formed on the church.

The monument to the fallen fighters and victims of fascism is a cultural asset in the very heart of Suborica, a mausoleum where the remains of the greats of the Subotica workers’ movement and revolutionaries who died in the fight for freedom of the North Bačka district. The monument consists of three parts: a pedestal, an access plateau and a tomb.

The synagogue in Subotica is the only remaining sacral building built in the style of Hungarian secession in the world. It was built by the Jewish community, which at that time had around 3,000 members. Its architecture emphasizes the dual, Hungarian-Jewish identity of its builders, who lived in the multiethnic, majority Catholic city of the Habsburg Empire.

The original building of the National Theater in Subotica was built in the middle of the 19th century as the first monumental building of cultural significance in Subotica. Unfortunately, it was demolished for the purpose of renovation by the city authorities about ten years ago, although at the end of the 20th century it was declared a historical monument of exceptional importance. Residents believe that by demolishing the original building of the National Theater, Subotica has lost its charm.

The monument of the Holy Trinity shows the harmony and unity of the citizens of Subotica at a time when the population was working together to clean up the swampy parts of the city. This is not only a cultural good but a symbol of faith, hope and unity all with the aim of improving multiculturalism and creating a better community.

Subotica is truly a real gem of the Northern Bačka district and I sincerely advise everyone to visit this city and see for themselves the true beauty of Northern Serbia. When you finish your visit to Subotica, not far from the city bustle, only seven kilometers from the center of Subotica, there is Palić, the most famous health resort and picnic area.

Why visit Palić? Palić is known for Palić Lake, which has been one of the most visited places in Serbia for many years. Have you perhaps heard some of the many legends about the origin of this lake?

According to a legend that was passed down from generation to generation, Lake Palić was created from the tears of the shepherd Paul, who lost his flock exactly where the lake is today. That is why many people today “claim” that the water in the lake is salty because of tears of this desperate shepherd.

How did you like this interesting story one of the most famous city in North Serbia? Have you visited Subotica and Palić? Here spring is the most beautiful period of the year I have prepared this travel story for you with a lot of love and I hope you like it! I hope that you will maybe visit Serbia this summer and enjoy in the colours of the natural beauties of Vojvodina. Have you already made some plans what you are planning to visit after this lockdown?

If you have a question, comment, suggestion or message for me, you can write me down in the comments. Of course, as always you can contact me via mail or social media, which you can find on the CONTACT page. See you soon with another interesting story about Belgrade!

Best,
Mr.M

This post is my gift to all my dear travellers, who wanted to learn something new about Serbia. The post is for informational purposes only and is not sponsored.