Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for serbia
Capitals of Culture in 2022
By Linda Tancs
As noted in last year’s post on the subject of European Capitals of Culture, the title holders have been shuffled around a bit given the lack of festivities during the COVID pandemic. This year’s title holders are Novi Sad, Kaunas and Esch. Interestingly, all three cities are the second-largest in their country. On the banks of the Danube, the city of Novi Sad in Serbia boasts a colorful thoroughfare known as Dunavska Street and a fortress nicknamed Gibraltar on the Danube. Lithuania’s Kaunas is known for its artistic flair, including unique modernist architecture. One of its most famous sons is George Maciunas, who founded the experimental art movement known as Fluxus. Esch in Luxembourg is known as a metropolis of iron ore, a symbol of the country’s steel industry. It’s part of the region known as the Land of the Red Rocks (also known as the “Minett”), a nod to the bright red iron ore that gives the earth its color.
Share this:
Capitals of Culture in 2021
By Linda Tancs
In keeping with tradition, we begin the New Year with an announcement on the EU Capitals of Culture for 2021, or at least what would’ve been the capitals. Due to COVID-19, the cultural capitals program has been suspended. Timișoara (in Romania), Elefsina (in Greece) and Novi Sad (Serbia) have been shuffled around a bit. If three sounds like an odd number of capitals, that’s because the original plan was that, from 2021 and every three years thereafter, a third capital would be chosen from cities in countries that are candidates or potential candidates for membership in the European Union or in countries that are part of the European Economic Area. Romania and Greece have had their titles postponed from 2021 to 2023. Novi Sad will now be the European Capital of Culture in 2022, together with Kaunas (Lithuania) and Esch (Luxembourg).
Share this:
Belgrade’s Central Park
By Linda Tancs
Kalemegdan is Belgrade’s central park and fortress complex in Serbia. Lying on a hill overlooking the Sava and Danube confluence, its pleasant grounds contain a treasure trove of history and archaeology. It boasts the Belgrade Fortress, a citadel first built by the Romans in the first century and then razed and restructured by its conquerors, reaching its present form in the 18th century. The fortress contains the Roman Well, built during the baroque reconstruction of the ramparts during the 18th century. The fortress area also hosts the Statue of Victory, erected in 1928 to commemorate the Kingdom of Serbia’s war victories over the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Other highlights include the medieval Nebojša tower (a four-level cannon tower built around 1460 to protect the entrance to the Danube port) and the Military Museum in the middle of the park.
Share this:
The House on the Rock
By Linda Tancs
Western Serbia enchants travelers with unforgettable experiences. There’s medieval Mileševa monastery, known for its fresco of the White Angel. And the stunning vistas from the Šargan Eight, a narrow gauge railway in Mokra Gora. The horseshoe-shaped entrance to Potpećka Pećina cave is another favorite. But it’s the little house balanced precariously on a rock in the middle of the Drina River that really has hearts aflutter. Known as the House on the Rock, the tiny dwelling built by a group of young lads in 1968 near the town of Bajina Basta has withstood decades of floods and bad weather. It might not be an architectural gem, but it sure is a wonder.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 