Subotica
Walk through Subotica
Coming to the town you can recognize the silhouette
of the Town Hall and its tower, the
symbol and lookout of the town. This building, the center
of town and pedestrian zone, all built in the style
of Hungarian Secession (1908-1912), are protected cultural
monuments of exceptional importance. The Town Hall hosts
the city government, Museum, Historical Archive, restaurant
"Elza pod tornjem", boutiques, banks, city
pharmacy and all newly married couples who arrange their
solemn ceremony of wedding there.
On the north of the old beauty, there is a park with
the lovely blue fountain and on the east, in the middle
of the square, the green fountain. Here we get to the
City Library established in 1890, which
is in the building of the former National Casino, built
in 1896 in neo baroque style, surrounded by patisserie
"Ravel" and restaurant "Spartak"
famous in song.
Looking around you can see the monument to
Czar Jovan Nenad, which stands in front of
the building of Narodno pozorište - Nepszinhaz.
This is the oldest theatre in Yugoslavia, built in 1854.
At the time of its construction, in the style of classicism
with its six composite pillars, in the mid XIX century,
surely it competed with the church steeples in the outline
of the arising town.
Strolling along the corso (Boris Kidrič Street) we
pass by a number of magnificent buildings from the turning
point of XIX and XX century, former hotels and rented
palaces (today cafes and boutiques) we get to the railway
station. This is the first constructed railroad
track (1969) in this area of the Pannonia plain and
south, in the direction of Zagreb and Rijeka. Not until
1899, was the track Budapest - Subotica - Beograd constructed.
Returning from the railway station, we must visit the
beautiful building of civil architecture in the style
of secession, one of the nicest in Europe built as a
housing building. Today, "Likovni susret"
art gallery is in this cultural monument.
If we continue to south we come to the crossroads dominated
by Hotel Patria from which to the left toward east you
get to Palić,
but if you go on south, you get to the main Bus station
built in 1986.
A number of bigger and smaller fountains make a real
mood to the citizens and transients, by which they can
have a rest, freshen up and drink water. A number of
confectionaries and cafes are proper destinations of
summer time on open terraces in the shade and the thick
freshness of trees.
Close to the Town Hall are the monastery and
Franciscan Church (Saint Mihovil), called by
people of Subotica "Old Church",
which are the oldest buildings and witnesses of the
town history. They were built on the remains of a small
medieval fortress from the XV century. This complex
finally got its todayćs form at the turning point of
XIX and XX century, when the chapel Black Mother of
God was built to the fortress. However, the church was
also enlarged and a second bell steeple added.
Not far east is Orthodox Church, consecrated
to Saint Resurrection of Lord. In it was the iconostasis
which was restored during the reconstruction of the
church and taken to the church Saint Dimitrije in Aleksandrovo,
where it is today. Aleksandrovo, south entrance to the
town, which was planned and formed as a suburban area
at the beginning of XIX century, became part of the
town.
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North of the center is a worlds cultural inheritance,
the Synagogue of Subotica, with its
beautiful proportions, brilliant architectural and form
solutions from the beginning of XX century, when the
secession style in building in this area was just in
the bud. Its architects were excellent builders Jakob
Dezso and Komora Marcel, who after the construction
of the synagogue and other major architectural and urbanist
grips, marked Subotica as a town of secession as well.
If we continue our walk toward sunset, we shall pass
by the oldest preserved milk market
- with everything you can offer on a market, even the
so-called "Little flea market".
If we go west, we shall pass by the building of the
Gymnasium, built by the end of XIX
century. It was preceded by the Gymnasium from the beginning
of the second half of XVIII century, which was torn
down because of the construction of the today's Town
Hall.
Going west toward the road to Sombor, first we shall
be surprised by a soc realistic monument to "Victims
of Fascism" (author Toma Roksanović) from
the mid XX century, which is exceeded by the two steeples
of the Subotica Cathedral, known as
Big Church. By the time it was built,
it was higher than the building of the old Town Hall.
The church is conscrated to "Saint Theresa of Avilion"
whose figure was put on the city coat of arms when it
achieved the status of a free royal town (1799). You
should stop there, look around the square, have a short
rest and continue your walk.
Further, westward, we get to the biggest attraction
of the town in the last two decades of XX century. It
is a space, once at the very periphery of the town,
opposite the hippodrome at the place of the former "second-hand
market", today trades center "Mali
Bajmok", more known as "Buvljak"
flea market. It has become a real modern center in the
last century, where the paths of goods from east and
west, and north and south meet with the latest products
on the used-car market and the live stock fair. Opposite
is the west gate to the town.
To transient guests, in fact, a circle of some 300
m radius drawn around the basis of the tower of the
Town Hall makes the town Subotica. The town of nine
towers, main motives of urban landscape, seen from far
away in the rolling plain of North Bačka, is in fact
much bigger. However, this space gives an urban look
and here people feel as citizens. Going downtown from
the periphery people usually say, "We go to town".
Walking around the town you may notice a tram, today
just a sad memory, but going to Palić
you may meet the same old sight. Namely, almost for
a whole century the tram connected this part of the
town with vacation area. We go along the modern road
and see automobile showrooms, a fair, and trade center
and arrive to the today's settlement of Palić
and the lake.
Data used is taken from: "Vaš vodič kroz Suboticu
i Palić"
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