Slavonia: Strolling along the rivers Danube and Sava

I had the original intention of writing another article for today, but a couple of days ago I rewatched on TV Harrison's Flowers... so in the end I felt I should write about Slavonia. For those of you who have previously read my blog Ja sam lektor, this article is really similar to this other one.

Slavonia

For the same reasons Slovakia should not be confused with Slovenia... Slovenia IS NOT the same than Slavonia. Slavonia is the region forming the Eastern corner of Croatia surrounded by Hungary in the North, Serbia in the East and the almost-impossible-to-classify Republika Srpska to the south, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Slavonia is located in the Pannonian Basin, making it as flat as can be. Those who know well the area say that the highest peak in the region is a turnip. This metaphore is not completely random, for Slavonia is the biggest vegetable producer in the Croatian market.   But Slavonian cuisine does not end here -it is well-known for its cured pork meats like kulen, prsut and some typically Hungarian dishes like goulash. 

So it would be a great idea to indulge yourself with a cholesterolful fest while enjoying the view: the green plains and the barges travelling up and down the rivers Danube and Sava... flowing slowly towards Belgrade in spite of the murky history around them.

Slavonski Brod

River Sava flowing by Slavonski Brod

On the North side of the Sava river lies Slavonski Brod, meaning something like the ford of Slavonia. Back in the days, this city was the most important Croatian port in the Sava river and it still keeps part of its industrial strength. Right accross the river you'll manage to see its Bosnian equivalent: Bosanski Brod. The river used to be the border between the Otoman and the Austro-Hungarian empires, so the old central European power had to protect the city with a fortress.

This 18th century fortress was designed in a star shape, like many others of its time -quite efficient against the new artillery weapons. It was one of the biggest and most expensive border defense constructions ever built in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Its complexity is comparable to that of Real Fuerte de la Concepción, a relatively unknown Spanish fortress in the Portuguese border. The Brod's fortress is not in the best conditions, though. Grass and trees have blurred some of the bastions and from some angles you may confuse the fortress with unexpected hills in the middle of Slavonia. 

The town is medium-sized (about 60.000) but it is a nice place to walk around and take a look to its Austro-Hungarian buildings and some Baroque monuments, like the Franciscan monastery. A good idea is to have a coffee in the main square (named after Croatian writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić), and have a wonderful coffee with wonderful views. If you want to freak out the beautiful waitresss from Mala Kavana, order a coffee with ice. She will observe you really amused while you have your cold coffee observing Bosnia on the other side of the river.

Trg Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić

Some bullet holes on a cafe's wall

To the children dead in the Croatian war

Osijek

On the banks of the Danube and right on the border with Serbia lies Slavonia's most important city: Osijek. It was founded back in the days of the Hispanic Roman emperor Hadrian as Mursa Maior, but it was later re-named Osijek by the Slavs, Ösek by the Turks, Eszék by the Hungarians and Esseg by the Germans. 

One of the funny things of Osijek is that is quite hard to find THE city centre if there's one. Maybe around Ante Starčević's square (where the concathedral is) feels kind of like the centre, but not quite... besides, there is another centre, the citadel -but not much happens there and it is completely separated from the rest of the city.

Trg Svetog Trojstva - and the current university

  The old city is a stronghold with star-shaped bastions along the banks of the Danube. Its center is the Holy Trinity's Square (Trg Svetog Trojstva), and it's designed following a grid plan. Parks surround completely this part of the city. Apparently it's one of the biggest concentrations of Baroque buildings in Croatia, but if you're used to Spanish Baroque you may find it a bit dull or maybe even confuse it with New-classical buildings since Croatian Baroque is not as lavishly decorated as Portuguese, Italian or Spanish. 

St. Michael's church in the background

Even if you're not that much into architecture, Osijek is a great place to walk around and relax. Its streets were mostly deserted during our visit and -like in most parts of Croatia once you leave the coast- you will not find many tourists. The promenada along the Danube offers easy and nice views of the Serbian countryside.

Bastion by the river

Bullet holes on a wall

The same holes compared to my hand

This video is one of the most well-known images from the beginning of the conflict: the Yugoslav People's Army thanks destroy a Zastava 750 (usually called fićo) that was trying to block the street to the tanks.

This tank is on the road between Osijek and Vukovar. By the end of the war it was full of abandoned and destroyed cars and tanks. The government eventually decided to clean the road but left this one as a reminder.

Fishing in the Danube. Serbia is just accross the river

Vukovar

Finally we make it to our last stop today: Vukovar. This town, 35 km to the south of Osijek was happily unknown to the rest of the world until the early 1990s when it was completely destroyed. This town, just by the Danube, is still Croatia's main inland port. It was mostly known by its industry and it's Baroque buildings and art galleries.

One of the tiny passenger barges on the river

Vukovar, like many other towns in Slavonia, has a Hungarian name meaning river Vuka's stronghold/town, since it's placed right on the mouth of this river. Before the war it had one of the most heterogeneous populations in Yugoslavia: 43% Croats, 33% Serbs and some important minorities of Germans, Hungarians and Ukrainians. Industry helped the town to highly increase its population, and by 1990 they reached the peak of 44.000 inhabitants. In the last census published in 2011 there were just around 27.000.

The tension raised between the different groups after the outbreak of the war, and the Yugoslavian army invaded this part of Croatia in order to form some sort of Greater Serbia. The conflict was especially intense here. The Serbian siege lasted for three months and it left thousands of casualties. Vukovar became the only European city to be completely destroyed since Stalingrad during World War II. This is the way the city looked after the siege:

Twenty years later, the scars are still visible in the buildings everywhere -let alone the not-so visible scars in the local people. 

Baroque palace on the main square

 

The heavily damaged water tower.
Now it's one of the city's symbols

Reconstructing Vukovar, together...!

During my visit, they were commemorating 19 years since the end of the siege... but the Heroic City (as it is often called) was not celebrating it. When the attacks ceased, a paramilitary group entered the hospital where the injured and wounded were healing. You can guess the rest.

The hospital's basement

Some of the victims of the hospital's massacre

The fire finaly ceased in 1992, but this city would not be returned to Croatia till 1998. Since then and every year, the people in Zagreb light candles all along the 5 kilometres of Vukovar Street. I took the pictures bellow in Zagreb in November 2011, on the 20th anniversary of the massacre.

I love Vukovar. Kindergarten: Future

Vukovarska Ulica, Zagreb

People praying by the Lisinski Theatre

Visiting Vukovar is an eerie and indescribable experience. Tourists usually stay on the nice beaches in Dalmatia and Istra. Croatia's idiosyncrasy and history are far more complex than the waves of the Adriatic sea and a dish of lignja na žaru.

This is also Croatia and this is its history.