Penza: Traveling through Provincial Russia
The first stop on our trip to the Volga was the city of Penza. Penza is actually not located on the Volga river. We were headed to Samara, a city of one million people, but because the train tickets were expensive and we wanted to explore anyway, we decided to pick a city nearby that had the cheapest tickets and visit it. That city ended up being Penza.
Penza was a good choice. It is big, around 517,311 people according to the 2010 census, but not too big, so we had enough time to see most of it. It’s an old city with old architecture, founded in 1663. But a lot of it has been lost over the years.
The city boasts a very nice pedestrian street and cheap, good food. The people are friendly and attractive. While some parts of the city are in bad shape, overall it has a nice local vibe to it that could help turn it into a tourist attraction given proper marketing.
As things stand now, there are probably only a handful of foreigners who visit the city each year. Even the Russians I spoke with looked at me with surprise when I said I was visiting Penza. But we went anyway.
How to get there
The train ride was really cheap, only about 500 rubles (or $8). From Moscow the trains leave from the Kazansky Railway Station located at Metro Komsomolskaya. The train ride took around 14 hours and we had to sit the entire way. But luckily they had plugs so we could charge our phones and work on our laptops the whole ride.
Getting off at the train station in Penza.
The first thing that got me worried on arrival was the modern train station. After all, Penza was founded in 1663. It has been connected by railway since the late 19th century. So why was Penza’s train station a modern boring building? What did the train station look like in the 19th century and early 20th century? Why was it no longer there?
Well the story is a sad one. Here is what Penza’s train station looked like in the late 19th and early 20th century. The original train station was made out of wood, but looked a lot better than it does today.
Penza’s train station in 1915. In 1923 the train station was renovated and replaced by brick.
Here is the train station in the 1950’s shortly following WWII.
The old train station stood as a central symbol of the city all the way into the late 1960’s. It was a beautiful building, the type you can find in any European city.
And then the Soviets demolished it and replaced it with this monster in the 1970’s. Communist urban planning at its worst.
The city carried out renovations of the train station from 2013-2016 where it got its current look. Personally, I think the city should have torn down the station built by the communists and rebuilt the old train station. The result is a central symbol of the city has been lost forever.
Despite this sad story, the area in front of the train station was clean and well maintained.
Shawarma McDonalds style.
There was a decent park next to the train station that you pass through to get to the city center. Some people were lining up selling books.
Walking toward the city center Penza had its fair share of historical buildings sprinkled throughout the city. On the right you can see pre-revolutionary Penza architecture, before the communists took power in 1917.
This is the kind of architecture that Russia should work on preserving. These buildings document Russia’s Czarist history, its living evidence of the European nature of the country.
A small coffee and chocolate shop in an old building.
Near the city center there is a statue to Vissarion Belinsky, the famous 19th century literary critic who played a major role in catapulting Fyodor Dostoevsky’s literary career. In 1845 he praised Dostoevsky’s first novel Poor Folk which made Dostoevsky one of the most well-known writers in Russia at the time, and he would later go on to write the Russian classics Crime & Punishment, The Brother Karamazov and Notes from Underground.
The statue is located in the middle of a small square named after him.
On the other side of Belinsky Square is the Penza Regional Drama Theater.
Penza’s main square and the start to Moskovskaya Street, the city’s primary pedestrian street.
Moskovskaya Street. This is Penza’s primary pedestrian street. Up until a few years ago this street was open for cars. But the city decided to turn it into a full pedestrian street closed off to traffic. It is actually one of the longest pedestrian streets I’ve ever walked on and leads almost all the way up to the small church in the background.
A nice ‘kvas’ stand to refresh yourself on a hot summer day. Kvas is a Russian beverage made from bread and tastes something like non-alcohol beer with sugar added.
The Gorodok Shopping Center, a small shopping mall located in a historical building.
Walking up the street. It was a hot summer day in the morning and the street was mostly empty, but it filled up later in the evening.
A converted Khrushchovka on the city’a main street. Khrushchevkas are apartment buildings built during the reign of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The distinguishing feature among them is that they were all built to be five stories high. Despite being an integral part of Soviet and Russian history and attempts by architectual preservation societies to declare them as part of Russia’s architectual heritage, they are at a threat of disappearing forever under government-run housing programs. You can read about how Moscow is massively destroying Khrushchevkas here. Thankfully, it looks like they are still standing in Penza.
Of course no Russian city is complete without a statue and square dedicated to Lenin. Behind the statue is the Penza regional administration building.
Lenin Square was nice, but as a rule, squares built by the communists tend to be too wide and large without enough attractions to make it a vibrant public space.
The Governor’s Office of the Penza Region.
Lenin towering over everyone.
An old shopping center with a McDonalds. A good example of how an old building can be used to host modern businesses.
Of course, Penza’s main attraction is the city’s impressive pedestrian street. It is one of the longest I’ve seen in any European city and stretches all the way to the church in the distance on top of the hill.
This converted pedestrian street was well kept and maintained, with lots of benches, trees and architecture.
Another old building in the center.
A bakery with tasty local food.
A restaurant with some outdoor seating. Café culture isn’t as developed in Russia as it should be. The weather is often blamed, but in the summertime this should not be the case.
More local restaurants, this one called ‘bread and salt’, a reference to an old Russian tradition of offering bread and salt to guests who visit people’s homes.
Looking back on the street in the other direction.
The centers of Russian cities are filled with one to two story buildings that are no different to the centers of cities all over Europe.
Unfortunately in Russia, as well as in other parts of Eastern Europe they are not as well maintained. And there is a constant threat of them being demolished to make way for more modern high rises.
Really the problem comes down to poor rule of law and corruption. What these cities really need is a master urban planning and zoning laws, where construction of buildings over a certain number of floors are banned in the center, and the recognition of all pre-WWII architecture, as well as a lot of post-WWII architecture as historically protected. This would keep developers from destroying the center of the city.
For now, what’s saving cities like Penza in Russia’s provinces is the lack of money and poor economy. These cities are quite poor, and there is no guarantee that if a developer builds office space of an apartment building that it will be profitable. Very few people are moving to Penza, most people are moving out of the city to biggest Russian cities nearby or Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The problem is that as soon as a city begins to develop and money poors, developers come in and destroy the city. It’s what is destroying Moscow right now, and it happens in cities everywhere around the world. The only exception I see to this trend are some cities in Western Europe which have strong laws that protect their city centers and the historic architecture. This is the example Russia should follow.
Take a building that is three stories high, tear it down, and build one that is ten stories high on the same piece of land. Think of all the profit. The only thing that holds back developers from doing this are strong laws that protect historic buildings.
A beautiful street.
It’s amazing this street used to be open for cars up until a few years ago. But the local authorities did the right thing and decided to turn it into a pedestrian zone. In this sense, Penza is years ahead of most US cities, which have absolutely no pedestrian streets in their centers and continue to believe that cars are the only way to get around town.
As mentioned before, the street leads up to a huge church, but doesn’t quite go all the way. Here is where the pedestrians street ends.
I like these coffee stands built in the shape of coffee cup.
Here you can get a sense of what Moskovskaya Street used to look like before they pedestrianized it. Narrow sidewalks, parking for cars. Not much space to move around.
The view from the top of the hill looking back at Moskovskaya Street. They should pedestrianize the rest of this street.
A historic pharmacy.
Some of these buildings are really in terrible shape. Let’s hope the city does the right thing and renovates them instead of tearing them down. These buildings would make perfect locations to open book shops, cafes, hostels or co-working spaces.
On the left you can see an example of a second problem that many Russian cities face: cutting down trees. On the left you can see an example of a tree that was ‘trimmed’ to the point where they killed the tree. You can see this repeated all across Russia in many cities, trees that have their branches cut down to their bare bones to the point where the tree dies. I have no explanation as to why this happens, but you see it everywhere.
Thankfully though, the buildings behind the trees are in good shape.
Looking further back down the street.
Up ahead you can see Penza’s main church, the Spassky Cathedral. There is a sad story to this cathedral, as it was one of thousands of similar churches and cathedrals that the Bolsheviks tore down in the 1930’s in their attempt to get rid of religion in the Soviet Union.
Several European style buildings are located near the Cathedral as you walk up toward it.
It’s just amazing how you can find piece of Europe that stretch out this far east. It’s truly prove that Europe stretches all the way out to the Urals and beyond.
The Spassky Cathedral is currently under construction. Originally it was built from 1800-1824 and stood as the central symbol of the city up until 1934 when the Bolsheviks blew it up. For the following decades a park stood in its place, and this park still exists today. In the 2000’s a decision was made to rebuild the Spassky Cathedral in its historic location.
The view down Moskovskays Street from where the cathedral stands.
Some more historic buildings around the church. Penza is quite a hilly city.
An outdoor restaurant with a nice patio.
Another historic building.
And here is the church, standing tall at the top of the hill and looking out over the rest of the city.
Nearby there were several other historic buildings surrounded by trees and greenery.
Another view of the church hiding behind the trees.
Here you can see the construction that is still going on. In recent years the government has been rebuilding old churches that were torn down by the communists. The program is controversial. On the one hand, if you look at the sheer amount of churches the Bolsheviks destroyed, you realize to what extent Russia lost its cultural heritage under the Soviets. And its natural to want to bring some of it back.
On the other hand, there are thousands of churches across Russia that were never torn down, and that still stand today, but are in a terrible state and at threat of collapsing and being lost forever. Instead of building new churches to replicate old ones, some people believe more effort should be made to preserve the churches that are still standing, but that are at threat of disappearing forever.
Nearby the cathedral there was a smaller chapel, surrounded by trees.
Another historic building at the top of town. Penza’s historic core was actually quite large, at least parts that remain.
More old brick buildings.
Every effort should be made to preserve these buildings.
Next to the church was a nice park with lots of old trees and benches for people to sit on. There were people walking around and taking it easy on a working day. In general Penza had a very relaxed and laid back feeling.
Walking through the park.
More older buildings nearby.
Heading back down to the lower part of town on Kirov street.
On the right you can see the walls of the Holy Trinity Women’s Monastery.
This would classify as Penza’s mini-Kremlin, obviously with walls that are much lower than those of Moscow or in other Russian cities.
Inside the monastery.
Walking toward the Sura river. These are examples of trees that have been absolutely destroyed. For whatever reason, the government decided to cut off all the branches to the tree and leave only the stump. So now, instead of a beautiful tall tree creating lots of shade and fresh air, you get a stump with a mini bush. Why would you ever cut down a tree like that?
Classic Russian wood architecture in the center.
More examples of beautiful trees cut down and destroyed. There was a lot of construction going on in this part of Penza by the river. It’s very possible that buildings like these will be torn down soon.
More wooden architecture.
A pedestrian bridge over the Sura River.
The Sura River. The left embankment was being reconstructed.
Heading back toward the center.
More trees that should never have been cut down.
Back in the center on Moskovskaya Street.
Eating bread in a local bakery.
Street coffee.
A beautiful khrushchovka located in the center of town.
Back on the train headed to Samara.
So what can I say about Penza? It’s awesome!
Just like with any country, to truly get to know it, you need to head outside of the tourist spots.
In Russia tourists tend to only visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg. They then head back home and that’s all they get to see of the country.
For years afterward when people ask them whether they have visited Russia, they will answer with a resound ‘yes’.
But I would argue they didn’t really visit Russia.
Because the real Russia is hidden in cities like Penza.
You have to head deep into the provinces to these smaller regional towns, towns that only a handful of tourists visit each year and where the majority of the Russian population lives.
Only in this way will you truly get to experience the real Russia.
After Penza we headed toward Samara, a city of 1 million people located on the Volga River. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on that city.
The hotel was built in 1898-1899 and opened on New Year’s Day in 1900. It is located directly on the city’s main pedestrian street, where there are a lot of historical buildings.
Cacak’s pedestrian street is literally called ‘Gradsko Setaliste’, which translates as ‘the city’s walking area’. The street is a smaller version of 
Other small cities in Serbia and the Balkans should learn from Cacak’s pedestrian street. Last summer I 
A stray dog, hiding from the sun.
It was very promising to see lots of people cycling in the city. Biking infrastructure is massively underdeveloped in the Balkans. Most cities have no bike lanes. Those that do consider bike lanes to simply involve painting a white line on a sidewalk and calling it a bike lane. Cacak also didn’t have bike lanes, but there were plenty of people riding bikes, which gives me hope things will change in the future.
Cacak also had narrow side streets typical of older cities in southern Europe.
A typical old building Cacak’s center.
A monument to Vojvoda Stepa, a famous Serbian army commander who fought in Serbia’s wars of independence against the Turks in the 1870’s, the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885, the First and Second Balkan Wars in 1912-1913 and World War I. He served as Serbia’s Minister of War from 1908-1920, and died in Cacak on April 29, 1929.
A post office box from 1863 still stands on one of the buildings.
More cyclists in the center. It’s great to see cycling becoming more and more popular in Eastern Europe.
Another historic building on Cacak’s pedestrian street.
While it seemed like the city mostly respected its historic architecture, there was one building that looked like it was being torn down to be replaced with something modern, which is unfortunate.
At times you feel like you could be in any other city in Germany or France walking through Cacak.
One drawback is the massive advertising and lack of a design code in the center. The glass building on the far left may have once been an old building that was modernized, and now there is shameless promoting of Serbia’s Prime Minister Alexander Vucic on the facade.
Cacak also pedestrianized areas of its center where the buildings were not as old.
These streets offered a balanced mix of old and new.
A pedestrianized square in the center.
Hong Kong Chopping Center on the left. I couldn’t figure out when this building was built, but I wish it hadn’t been, since it completely blocks the view of the other older buildings.
Another old building.
Bikes seemed to cover up every spare pole or fence where people could lock their bikes to.
A traditional Serbian Guslar player.
Walking toward Cacak’s central square.
Cacak’s central square is similar to many other central squares in the Balkans designed by Yugoslav communists. After WWII Yugoslav communists wanted to showcase socialist architecture and would typically design a central square in the center of every city in Yugoslavia with a building built in the new socialist style.
Contrast the communist building to those on the other side of the square. These are the historic buildings the city needs to preserve and promote.
A nice fountain in front of the building built by the communists.
Another bike rack in the city’s center. The sign says “ride a bike, live healthy and well.”
Even older folks were out on the street riding their bikes.
Walking down Zupana Stracimira street.
This street also had a lot of historic buildings and is a candidate for further pedestrianization.
The area around the cities parliament building is almost spotless with beautiful flowers, benches and trees planted.
One of the oldest churches in Cacak. It was originally built in ______ but in _______ additional sections to the church were added. When we went inside the interior was completely modern without any frescoes. Unfortunately it looks as if the frescoes were lost over the centuries.
A look down the street away from the church.
Cacak’s ___________ building.
Cacak’s _________________ building.
The old architecture of Cacak. It’s interesting to see this old European style architecture in a central Serbian city like Cacak. These buildings were built in the 19th century when Serbia was still nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, but de-facto an independent state. They testify toward the European outlook the population and rulers had at that time, despite centuries of Ottoman rule.
More old buildings.
Despite the European buildings, there were traces of Ottoman heritage throughout the town. One is the Cacak National Museum, which is a house built in the traditional Turkish style.
Across the museum is the city’s __________ church, one of the oldest in the city.
Inside the museum there was a new exhibition on display of student’s from the local high school showcasing their modern art projects.
The national museum was originally a ______ built in the ____________. There is not much Ottoman era architecture left in the city, despite Cacak and Serbia being under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.
One of the oldest painted markings of the Serbian emblem with three ‘S’ written in the Cyrillic alphabet is on the building of the museum.
Some old engraved stones in front of the museum.
Inside the museum you had old pictures of Cacak. Here is Cacak at the start of the 19th century where the church stands today.
A handrail made of old carved stone.
The ceilings, walls and floors of the rooms were made from wood that was over a century old. The rooms were small, but left in exactly the same state that they were in 200 years ago when people lived in the building.
An old picture of the church in Cacak.
Old weaponry and swords of Slavs who settled this area of the Balkans in the 6th century.
Uniforms of the Serbian army in the early 20th century.
More old photos of Cacak.
Another old photo of Cacak and the church.
Outside of the museum, looking away from the building.
Outside the museum.
Buildings outside the church in Cacak.
Inside the church.
Where the candles are lit for loved and deceased ones.
The entrance into the church.
Candles for deceased ones.
“A prayer for deceased ones”
A short walk away from the city center toward the Ibar River you begin to see residential homes where people live in Cacak. These homes are beautiful one or two story homes that are well-maintained, with nice gardens, rooftops and lawns. You don’t get any sense of this area being a poor area of Europe or Serbia. It’s a shame because salaries really are low in the Serbia, but despite this, people live lives that are in many ways much richer and rewarding than in the United States.
It’s nice to see these homes still standing. In many parts of the United States, Russia or Europe, cities are tearing down these homes to build ugly, modern apartment blocks that ruin the skyline of cities and are out of place compared to the rest of the architecture of the city. In Cacak at first glance it looks like the city is keeping track of its history and heritage and preserving its historical buildings.
More examples of Cacak homes.
The Ibar River is a short fifteen minute walk from the city center. It passes through an area with lots of trees and greenery.
Serbia and Balkan countries are sports super houses, churning out basketball, football, tennis, volleyball and water polo players that are at the top of their leagues around the world. Many people wonder why. A major reason is that during socialist Yugoslav times, the authorities built tons of outdoor volleyball, basketball football and tennis courts and sports centers that anybody could access free of charge. This infrastructure remains to this day, and is still in use, despite sometimes being in poor conditions. When people grow up in small Balkan cities like Cacak, they grow up surrounded by kids who spend their time outside playing different sports. Nobody has to pay to use the football field or basketball court, and therefore kids and teenagers play sports growing up instead of videogames or drinking or doing drugs. When college comes, they often get scholarships and head out west to universities in the United States or Europe to play sports. The big ones make it and go on to be the stars we know them to be today. But often times their stories all begin with that local basketball court in their neighborhood in their small city in Serbia where they played every day growing up.
A bike path near the river.
Around the river.
Cacak’s soccer stadium.
The bike path winding between the trees and through the woods around the Ibar River.
An area to play beach volleyball.
The Ibar River with a nice café set up nearby.
Some locals sunbathing by the river.
I love Cacak.
Sitting by the Ibar River.
In the evening the center of Cacak fills up with parents and their kids walking around. Cacak does not have a university, so there are few students between the ages of 18-22 in the city. They often go off to study in Belgrade or other closer universities in Nis or Kragujevac. As a result, most of the people in Cacak are families with their kids or grandparents.
Cacak’s pedestrian street in the evening.
A really beautiful old building.
The center of Cacak in the evening.
Cacak shops.
The cafes in the center fill up in the evening with people drinking coffee, ordering food and performing the standard Balkan ritual of chatting with friends in cafes for hours and hours. Here the city feels alive, vibrant and exciting. Compare what an evening looks like in a typical small city in the United States where the centers, if they even have any, are dead quiet with only cars driving by, with an evening in a city like this.
It helps that the food in Cacak is some of the best you can find in the Balkans. Cheap, delicious, enormous servings of mouth-watering cuts of meat, straight off the grill, with fresh locally grown vegetables and good wine. The Balkans have some of the best food in Europe, and Cacak is no exception.
Cacak is one of Serbia’s most beautiful cities. While most people who visit Serbia focus on Belgrade and the north in Vojvodina, the heart and real beauty of Serbia lies south. Here in Serbia’s interior you can find cities woven in between mountains that were some of the first cities to be built in Serbia in the 19th century when the country first gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. That same character and liveliness which made Serbs fight to free this land and take control of these cities in the 19th century persists to this day. It is from the
While it is hard to compete with the beauties of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin coastlines, in terms of city beaches there are few that come close to Ada Ciganlija.
During the summer months the park fills up with people from Belgrade who want to go to the beach, but don’t feel like heading all the way down to Greece, Croatia or Montenegro to get a tan.
The area has a long history to it. The name Ada Ciganlija was first mentioned in 1809 in an order signed by the Serbian leader Karadjordje who gave the land as a gift to Mladen Milovanoc, the chairman of the Serbian Council at the time. After the Turks regained control of Belgrade in 1813 they destroyed all records of land ownership and Ada Ciganlija fell out of private hands. In 1821 the Serbian King Milos Obrenovic declared the area to belong to the people and it has remained public property since.
Nowadays Ada Ciganlija is the center of Belgrade’s sports life. All around the park you can see people biking, swimming, running and, apparently on occasion, participating in competitions to win protein powder.
Of course the main attraction of Ada Ciganlija is the beach, which gets packed on the weekends.
The city uses small stones and pebbles for the beach instead of sand, which leaves the area much cleaner.
Ada Ciganlija’s other main attraction are its cafes. They line the entire beach and offer delicious food and refreshing drinks.
Baby strollers and bikes are equally welcome.
Other cafes that are not located directly on the beach still offer places to tan and soak in the sun.
A beach bar. I’m hoping it has a little more people on other days.
The water is also very clear, a rarity for urban beaches. Water from the Sava River is constantly flowing through Ada Ciganlija, which keeps it clean.
Ada Ciganlija remained in a disastrous state for most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. It was only in 1950 when Belgrade approved a new urban plan for the city that Ada Ciganlija was turned into a recreation, swimming and sports center on the banks of the Sava River.
Besides the beach and cafes, the food here is amazing. Freshly grilled burgers and chicken and meat all for reasonable prices.
“Diving and swimming is prohibited!”
Kids having fun with the water slide.
A range of more extreme sports are also offered, including bungee jumping off that crane.
A water park on the lake.
Cycling is a popular activity.
The playgrounds in the grass remained understandably empty, given the nearby beach.
The cafes and beach bars.
The tall trees offered much needed shade from the hot sun.
A warning to all vegans that head to Serbia, beware of the food. You won’t find vegetables here.
Soaking in the sun.
For those that don’t feel like walking, there is a small passenger train that rides up and down the lake every half hour.
An adventure park nearby allowing you to swing from tree to tree Tarzan style.
Up until 1967 Ada Ciganlija was simply an island in the Sava River. But then the city decided to connect the right bank of the island to the shore. After that Ada Ciganlija was turned into a peninsula.
Two dams were then later built at the southern and northern tips of the island to turn the park into a lake and form Ada Ciganlija’s present-day shape.
Ada Ciganlija stretches out for 4.2 kilometers and the water has an average depth of 4-6 meters.
More cafes.
There are a lot of trees nearby. Several protected species of birds and animals live in this habitat.
Hiding from the sun.
The beach is often crowded at the entrance, but people taper off as you walk further down the shoreline.
To get away from the crowds I suggest heading toward the other end of the island.
A volleyball tournament was taking place when I was there.
The smell of fresh meat on the grill surrounds you at every restaurant.
Delicious Turkish style coffee.
Who could not love this?
Behold Serbian food. Mixed pieces of grilled meat, including chicken, pork and sausages. Fries. And fresh fruits and vegetables on the side. All for under $10.
There is a dedicated bike lane that circles the beach a little further out from the lake. So you can bike freely without worrying about the crowds.
As evening fell, the beach emptied out.
Walking back toward the entrance.
On the other side of the lake is the Belgrade district ‘Banovo Brdo’.
A final look at Ada Ciganlija before heading home.
If you are just in Belgrade for a weekend, then you can feel safe to skip over Ada Ciganlija, since there are more than enough things in the center to do to take up your time.
On the other side of the street there is a small little park called Rajhl Ferenca.
In most cities, just some green grass and benches would be enough to declare it a park. Here you get century-old trees hovering over you.
Subotica had no shortage of beautiful architecture too.
But the greedy trees were in the way and made it impossible to take a photo.
Many cities would have torn down all these trees long ago. In Subotica they stand tall and proud, forming an integral part of the city.
Subotica’s main pedestrian street is called Korzo and is filled with 19th century neo-classical architecture.
The city had its fair share of cyclists, though not as much as its Hungarian neighbor Szeged across the border. Part of the reason is the infrastructure was a lot worse. Szeged had dedicated bike lanes throughout most of the city, Subotica did not. Hopefully this will change soon and Subotica can follow in the footsteps of Szeged.
The center is filled with narrow side streets where cars are prohibited.
One of the best burgers I have ever had was at Fabrika Burger Bar in Subotica. Highly recommended.
More trees in the center.
Subotica has a population of 97,910 according to the last Serbian census in 2011, making it the fifth largest city in Serbia. If you add in the adjacent urban settlement Palic, the population gets pushed up to 105,681. At one time however, Subotica was the third largest city in the former Yugoslavia shortly after WWI ended in 1918. The Serbian army occupied large parts of southern Hungary after the war which were populated by Serbs and South Slavs, an area now known as Vojvodina.
Restaurants with beautiful patios were sprinkled throughout the city.
A tribute to the saxaphone.
I can only imagine how nice this place must be in the evening when the tables fill up with people.
Looking back out onto the street.
A pizzeria in an old renovated building.
When the Ottoman Empire conquered Hungary, Subotica remained under the Turks for almost 150 years from 1542-1686. After the majority of the local population fled, the Ottomans settled the area largely with Orthodox Serbs who lived deeper south in the empire. The city was reconquered by the Habsburgs in 1687 and in subsequent centuries the Habsburgs would often encourage local Christian populations to rise up in Serbia which remained under the Ottomans. When these rebellions were suppressed, Christian Serbs would flee north to Hungary to seek refuge. In this way, as the centuries past, the southern part of Hungary came to dominated by Serbs.
Subotica developed rapidly in the 19th century under Habsburg rule. The 1848-1849 revolutions that rocked the empire affected Subotica as well, with Serb leaders claiming the city to be included in their Serbian Vojvodship. After Russian and Habsburg troops quashed the rebellion, the city was included in a newly formed province of the empire called the Voivedeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. The capital was the city of Timisoara and the province existed from 1849-1860. It was during this time that Subotica got its impressive theatre in 1853, which was barbarically destroyed by local authorities in 2007. More on that later.
Today the city has a distinct Austro-Hungarian feel to it.
There are, however, places where the Ottoman legacy can be felt, particularly with some courtyard balconies that resemble Turkish buildings.
Subotica was connected by railway in 1869 and received its first tram system in 1897. At the close of the 19th century, the town reached its peak of cultural development. The majority of Subotica’s neo-classical buildings were constructed during this time.
Subotica remained part of Austro-Hungary until the end of WWI when the country was defeated by allied armies. Serbian and French troops entered Subotica on November 13, 1918. Shortly after on November 25, a national assembly in Novi Sad declared the unification of Backa, Banat and Baranja with Serbia. Eventually the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia. In WWII Hungary joined the Axis and retook the city on April 12, 1941. Serbs and Jews were expelled from the city during the war and when Yugoslav and Soviet troops liberated the city on October 10, 1944 the opposite happened to Hungarians and Germans.
Luckily most of Subotica’s buildings survived WWII in tact and today the city’s pedestrianized center makes it possible to easily enjoy them. But there are a few more streets the city could pedestrianize, such as Vladimir Nazora Street.
As things currently stand, the street is essentially a parking area for people who want to visit the center. Imagine how much nicer Vladimir Nazor street would look if it were closed off to traffic.
The street contains a series of buildings that are some of the oldest and most beautiful in the city. Observe the details above the windows.
A picturesque balcony with a small chair and table outside. This is how balconies are supposed to look, not like what often happens in Russia and Ukraine where they are 
Restaurants on Vladimir Nazor street would be first to benefit from its pedestrianization. There is outdoor seating for only a few tables right now.
Pedestrians walking by are forced to pass through the restaurant to get to the other side. Cyclists can forget about comfortably riding through the area.
Instead parked cars take up the majority of the urban space.
More streets in Subotica’s center which could be pedestrianized.
Subotica could also improve the look of its center by banning massive advertisements on old buildings. Take a look at how much space the VIP shop sign covers up of the building’s historical facade.
Some trees didn’t manage to bloom this Spring.
Further down Korzo street you eventually hit Subotica’s main square.
Another beautiful courtyard.
Subotica City Hall, one of the city’s most impressive works of architecture. At 76 meters high, it towers over the other buildings in the city. It was built from 1908-1912 by the Budapest-based architects Komor and Jakob in the Art-Nouveau style. Today it is used for city assemblies, weddings and concerts. There is an observatory deck 45 meters high which offers a nice panorama of the city.
In the middle of the square is a monument dedicated to Czar Jovan Nenad, who made Subotica his capital in 1527.
Subotica’s National Theatre is also located on the square. There is a tragic story behind this building. While it may look impressive, do not be fooled. It is a cheap imitation of the original theatre that used to stand here, a theatre that was one of Subotica’s oldest and most famous buildings.
The original national theatre was built in 1854. It was one of the first major public buildings to be constructed in the city. It was Subotica’s central symbol, it could be found on any postcard of the city for over a century. But despite its inclusion as a historic monument under state protection since 1983, local city officials made a barbaric and unforgivable decision to tear the building down in 2007.
Instead of a historic building that stands in harmony with the surrounding architecture, you get a rectangle box on Subotica’s main square, the most important area of the city.
The modern rectangular shape looks completely out of place when contrasted to the old buildings behind it.
Did the city really have to destroy the its 150-year old theatre to build a piece of garbage like this?
A bland glass facade completely out of harmony with the surrounding infrastructure.
The story of Subotica’s National Theatre is a tragic story of barbarism and incompontence. In 2007 the city’s national theatre was in a catastrophic state. It had gone decades without being renovated. Inside the theatre the main stage and seats were falling apart. Delegates at Subotica’s city assembly approved a plan to tear the building down and build a modern building to replace it. It’s important to note that the ruling party in power when this decision was taken was the SVM (Savez Vojvodjanskih Madjara) or ‘Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians’.
Thankfully, it is not all sad news in Subotica. The trees, which give the city its distinct character, have so far been spared destruction.
Hopefully the city never decides to tear them down. They make even a bland parking lot in the center look vibrant and alive.
Of course, it would probably be better to close this area off for cars as well. I recognize this cannot be done for the whole city, but you can do it for most of the city’s historic core.
Getting rid of the cars opens up the center for areas like this.
It’s hard to imagine that at one point this pedestrianized zone was open to traffic.
Subotica’s main square is an oasis of greenery dominated by cafes, tall leafy trees, green grass and a blue fountain in the very center.
A scaled-down model of the city’s historic core.
Some might complain that having so many trees on the city’s main square makes it impossible to take a good photo of any of the buildings. I think it makes the area look even better, distinguishing it from other similar squares in Europe.
In the center of the city is Subotica’s Blue Fountain (that’s literally the name). It’s a nice area to sit on a bench and read a book while listening to the sound of running water.
The main building on the main square is Subotica’s Town Hall which towers over the rest of the city.
You know that cycling is a popular means of transport in a city when you get elderly folks riding around on two wheels.
In some places the city has simply been taken over by greenery, with Subotica’s buildings barely visible through all the bushes and grass and trees and leaves.
A monument to the Holy Trinity, located on the main square.
More old buildings.
More trees.
This is what cities should aspire to look like.
Just like in the rest of the Balkans, cafe culture is alive and well in Subotica. Throughout the entire day the cafes are filled with locals drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, chatting with friends and reading the newspaper.
In areas of the center where there are still cars, the streets have been narrowed to only one lane with a low speed limit.
Wide sidewalks make the city accessible for the least mobile of residents.
A small chapel further away from the main square.
Almost all of Subotica’s center is dominated by historic two-story buildings. The city has yet to be ruined by developers.
Hopefully the city will continue to pedestrianize more and more streets like these and promote walking and cycling and public transportation over driving.
One important sight to see in Subotica is the city’s synagogue. I would have never guessed that the second largest synagogue in all of Europe can be found in this small Serbian city of 100,000 people. Built in 1902 in the art nouveau style by the same Hungarian architects that constructed Subotica’s impressive town hall, the synagogue is the only surviving Hungarian art nouveau Jewish place of worship in the world. The building is a reflection of the dual Jewish-Hungarian nature of Subotica in the early 20th century, a city that was the tenth largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a major economic center. Miraculously the synagogue survived WWII in tact, unlike most Jewish heritage which was wiped out on the continent.
More trees.
I really hope nobody ever decides to cut them down. Subotica would not be the same without them.
How many other cities are there that can boast of such a balanced blend of outdoor greenery and historic architecture?
A beautiful balcony above a restaurant in the center.
How can you not love a city like this?
I will admit, before I visited Subotica I did not truly appreciate the importance of trees in cities.