Backa Topola in winter

My best moment of Winter is when I leave Zurich toward South-East andusually I spend much of my stay in Serbia in the Vojvodina region (the flatnorthern part of Serbia). 

There are a lot of pretty towns that are reallyworth visiting, and once when my husband showed me where he went tocollege I had the opportunity to meet Backa Topola (БачкаТопола) a municipality in the North Backa District.(above a postcard from Backa Topola of 1964)

(Backa Topola Postcard from kasina at skyscrapercity)

Dueto its favorable geographical location this place was settled fromvery early on. When in the middle age its inhabitants were all Serbs,after being destroyed by kuruc rebels in 1704, around 1750 it waspopulated by Hungarians and Slovaks and still today its population isaround 60% Hungarians and 30% Serbs (the rest is composed by otherethnic groups).

It'sa picturesque town shaped by its austro-hungarian buildings.

NearBacka Topola is a pretty lake called Zobnaticko Jezero (ЗобнатичкоЈезеро). 

There are lots of protected plants, species of insectsand birds around the lake, an oasis of nature and peace. 

 

Onthe other side of the lake are structures for tourism: beaches, arestaurant and possibilities for camping.

Thewindmill (Vetrenjaca; Ветрењача)

Until1969 there were more working windmills that were used for grindingcorn and wheat. The mill was in the ground floor, the second floorwas the apartment of the miller and in the third floor was themecanism of the mill. Now it's used for museum purpose.

Horse-racingwas a popular sport among austro-hungarians, and one of the fewracing-tracks of Serbia is located here. Above one of the peculiar buildings at the entrance of the track.

Here the official website of Backa Topola:

www.btopola.org.rs

Here an older post about travelling in Vojvodina:

http://www.sajkaca.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-travel-tips-for-serbia-ethno.html

6 Cool Buildings in Banja Luka

Banja Luka  the administrative capital of the Republika Srpska, is a beautiful town with lots of  interesting buildings from the last century like the Banski Dvor (Бански Двор) (1932), the National Theater (Народно позориште Републике Српске) (1933), The City Hall (Градска палата) (1934), The Palace of the Republic (Палата Републике Српске) (1936) and the buildings on the Promenade - Gospodska street (officially Veselin Masleša street).
(Picture from Panoramio)

What interests me more about Banja Luka are a few modern buildings that I want to show here in this post:

 1. Dom Vojske

 Today it is the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (Народна скупштина Републике Српске. (picture from panoramio and skyscrapercity)


2. The Retirement Home (Старачки Дом)

 The building looks quiet interesting, it was started in 1989 and it's still not finished.
 (picture from Teča sa Dunava)

3. The Borik Sport Center (Спортска дворана Борик)

This Sport Center is a typical 1970's structured concrete building and lays in the Borik neighboorhood. (picture from wikipedia).

Borik is a neighborhood of Banja Luka. It was built northeast of the old city center after an earthquake in 1969 when Banja Luka was heavily damaged. Borik was planned for housing of people who lost their homes in an earthquake and it was built in a modern socialist architectural style, typical for cities that were developed under an influence of a communist system. (picture from scborik).

The building is from 1974, can seat about 5'000 people and is used for different Sports and for Concerts.

4. The Cathedral of Saint Bonaventure

The Cathedral of Saint Bonaventure is one of four Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Cathedral was built in honor of Saint Bonaventure, a Franciscan theologian from the Middle Ages. It was constructed by Alfred Pichler in the 1970s after the original had been damaged in the 1969 earthquake.
It was built in a tent like shape. The bell tower was added in 1990.(picture)

5. Boska Shopping Center

“Boska” department store (from 1978) is a building that looks like from outer space. Its shape was designed without any direct formal relationship to the local heritage.

picture by http://www.bojanfajfric.net

It's kind of a landmark of Banja Luka, due to its location (in the very center on a big pedestrian square) and to its over-sized shape. It stands there as a nostalgic symbol of former Yugoslavia and never underwent any changements. (picture from panoramio)

6.  Hotel Turist in Celinac (near Banja Luka)

The last of the 6 buildings is not really in Banja Luka. But with its prefab facade, its round-corner-windows and daring color concept fits into this list of cool buildings.

The hotel has 35 beds and a restaurant. (Pictures from panoramio)


And here a few links for visiting Banja Luka:
• Banja Luka Online Guide
• The Banja Luka in your pocket guide to download
  (it's from 2009) but still useful

Here you can download a map of the City of Banja Luka