Welcome to Subotica, a smallish city in the north of Serbia. It is located in Vojvodina, near the border cross with Hungary. It is special because of ethnic groups who live in it. The majority of the population are Hungarians with over 50% of the total population. About 100 000 people live in this small city, which compared to the megalopolises in the world surely is a dwarf city but still worth our while. Subotica is the second largest city in size in Vojvodina, right after the city of Novi Sad.
This city is well known for its prevailing Austro-Hungarian architecture. In 1918 Subotica became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Previously this city was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Today, Subotica is part of Serbia, but this city is surely a melange of both Serbia and its neighbouring country and nation of Hungary, with their own idiosyncratic traditions and customs. That is the main reason why tourists tend to like to visit this city, the place where two cultures meet and blend in the wake of this centuries long cultural encounter .
In the city center, next to the Blue Fountain ( which happens to be its landmark) the City Hall is located – the most stunningly beautiful building in the whole city. It was built in 1910. The City Hall is one of the largest buildings in the city, with the characteristic architecture and its peculiar ruby red color, which is its distinctive feature. A range of hues of red: ruby red, cherry red and scarlet red, of maroon brown and auburn brown, ochre yellow, rust or brick or alternatively olive green, khaki green abound here and there on the idiosyncratic buildings of Subotica, not normally seen in the southern Serbia. From its rooftops, tourists can see the cityscape and possibly take superb photos. Just like the architectural melange, the dialect spoken in Subotica and its close proximity is a Serbian - Hungarian 'melange' to the utmost pleasure of linguists and language lovers alike i.e. the likes of David Crystal, languages being but a continuum of dialects.
Near the City Hall, there is the second largest synagogue in Europe. It was also built while Subotica was part of Austria-Hungary. In 2018, the synagogue was fully renovated in a project funded by Hungarian and Serbian governments. This beautiful place of worship draws in flocks of tourists to Subotica.
The city with a substantial influx of tourists should have two types of attractions on offer . The cultural one (monuments, famous buildings, museums, theater, churches etc.) and the natural ones (lakes, sea, mountain, etc.). The city of Subotica has both and that is the reason why this city is a perfect place for every kind of tourist. Lake Palić is located 8 kilometers from Subotica, near the Palić lake . Its area is 3.8 square kilometers and the average depth is 2 meters. All around the lake there is a walking route. On its shores, there are two hotels and one superb restaurant. Also, there is also the Poets' Corner named Cape of Poets' Hope with but a plain looking wooden bench where one can sit and look at the whole lake ( FWIW , the name is for some reason a play on words : it was borrowed from that of Cape of Good Hope in Africa; this poetry festival is organized here each year ) . Behind the bench there is a bulky notice board “Palić” . In the summer, the lake is dotted with swans softly floating around on its surface
In the centre of Palić there is a small Zoo. This zoo was built in 1950. Today, the zoo has about 150 animal species on an area of 15 hectares. This zoo may look like an ordinary zoo park, yet it is not. It is famous for a smallish isle in the midst of the zoo, where monkeys live. With lots of trees and scenery , monkeys can roam freely on the island, with no cages whatsoever. The isle is the biggest attraction in this zoo and monkeys are of course its most hilarious and mischievous entertainers.
These are some of the most popular attractions in Subotica, so you just need to pack up your bags and set off on a journey to this magical miniature city .
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written by Marija Bačić, our guest author, a student of tourism at Belgrade University marijabacic84@gmail.com
co - authored , edited and proofread by Natasha , our guest author
Serbian for foreigners
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