Novi Sad, Serbia

Novi Sad (New Garden) has been called the “Serbian Athens” and was recently named the “European Capital of Culture”.

Today, on Saturday there was a colorful market with processed food, fresh vegetables, meats, household supplies and clothes.

They have an abundance of space in their pedestrian area. Lots of shops and churches.

Little boy watching the mower.

Tal’s B&B

St. Mary’s

Dogs sleep in the middle of the road.

Serbian Opera House, modern due to the old one burning down.

The only synagogue in Novi Sad is no longer active, occasionally they’ll have ceremonies, but no regular services. There are not many Jews living in the city, according to Wikipedia only 450, in the city of 300,000. Three Serbian women presented a concert with Jewish songs. The acoustics eliminated the need for any sound equipment.

Dome

Not far from the synagogue is the Art Gallery of Matica Srpska. Artists from then Yugoslavia, traveled to Paris to practice their art and learn from other artists. This display showed the art that they created while in Paris.

By Sava Choumanovitch

Not far, just across the Danube from the art gallery is the Petrovaradin Fortress. This fortress, was originally built by the Austrians in 1692 and no battle was ever lost there since.

The minute and hour hands on the clock tower are reversed, with the small hand showing minutes, and the big hand showing hours. It was created as such so that fishermen on the Danube river can see the time from a long distance.

A little less than 300 years later, in 1957, artists began to fix up apartments inside the fortress as art studios. Today there are 120 studios within the maze of the fortress. One of the three that we visited was a photographer. It was clear from his talk and the photos themselves, that he truly got to know and understand the people that he photographed. He captured their story in their faces and surroundings. He welcomed us into his studio, which was many small barracks type rooms that were decorated with historical items and his photographs. It was very inviting and cozy. He shared wine and homemade cookies and bread stuffed with sausage. This group of artists are passionate and proud of what they have created at the fortress.