36. Sarajevo

Blog entries, Locations

entrance of our apartment building in Sarajevo, the Brutalist Papagajka building

Sarajevo is one of those cities that, in my mind, will always be associated with war, in this case the Bosnian war from 1992 to 1995. Yet, in Sarajevo the traces of war are limited to bullet holes in buildings, and perhaps a few buildings that have been destroyed and not rebuilt. The most obvious signs of war are the multiple museums that in one way or another remember the war, show the horrifying details, and charge for that. There is the Gallery 11/07/95, which details the genocide of Srebenica, the Siege of Sarajevo Museum, showing artefacts that relate to the siege, that lasted the entire war, and the History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which also has an exhibition on the siege. Then there is the Ratni Muzej – War Museum 1992 Sarajevo, about life and survival during the siege of Sarajevo 1992 – 1995, made and run by a family which survived the war. The Museum Of Crimes Against Humanity And Genocide 1992-1995, subject matter obvious, and the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum, showing the Tunnel of Hope that the Bosnian army built in 1993 to connect the city of Sarajevo with the only free territory in the surrounding area. The War Childhood Museum shows artefacts and memories from people who were a child during the siege. And I am sure there are more, all charging a – for Bosnia – hefty entrance fee; after all, it is only the tourists who visit those, not the local people. Somehow, this feel wrong, it feels like the horror of the war is now being exploited commercially. Museums like this should be there to remember, to never forget, not to make money. I know enough examples, Berlin being one of them, where this type of museums are free. And where there is some coordination between them, to avoid duplication.

old bridge over the Miljacka River that flows through town

the door of the Siege of Sarajevo museum

a toy gun, in the War Childhood Museum

The Museums

We do visit some of the museums, of course. We are confronted with the war horrors, with the blatant genocide of 8372 men and boys in Srebrenica, through an extremely moving video and associated photos, where not only the cold murder is detailed, but also how mass graves were dug up again and remains buried somewhere else, sometimes three times, to cover the traces, by people who obviously knew perfectly well that what they did, had done, would be judged at a later time. We get close up with details of the siege of Sarajevo, where shells were being lobbed indiscriminately into the city centre, and where snipers were shooting at random people who needed to cross from one area of the city to another – just think about this a little longer, people with precision guns were shooting at anybody who tries to cross the street, like people going to work, children going to school, women doing the necessary shopping; no military targets, just innocent civilians; how sick do you need to be to do something like this? And we visit the War Childhood Museum, which details the experiences of children who survived the war, and who have made items available to the museum together with their personal stories. At the same time deeply moving, and blatantly commercial – I think.

the names of victims, an impressive wall in one of the museums

the old town, full of small shops and stalls

entrance to the covered bazaar, Turkey-style

and inside, small shops, equally Turkey-style

carpet shop in what looks like a courtyard of a caravanserai

The City

Yet, as I said earlier, except from the traces of bullets on the walls of many buildings, Sarajevo has picked up again, and is now a thriving city. The old centre especially is lively, with residents, as well as the many tourists who visit the place, enjoying their time outside. Inevitably, very touristic, with all the souvenir shops, fast food restaurants and coffee bars with authentic Bosnian coffee and baklava. The Bosnian coffee is not different from the Serbian coffee we had earlier, or from Turkish coffee, Lebanese coffee, Syrian coffee or Arab coffee in other parts of the world. Come to think of it, more than any place we have been this trip, old Sarajevo reminds us of Turkey. The many mosques, some of them exquisite, the bazaar with its carpet shops, the narrow cobbled streets with the silver and gold shops, all very recognisable. No doubt because of the conquest by the Ottoman Empire that incorporated the country in the 15th C, and brought Islam to Bosnia and Hercegovina, not only from the ruling class that was sent down from Constantinople, but also through conversions of the local population.

and pommegranate

the Sebilj, a wooden fountain in the centre of the old town

the main shopping street in the old town

selling sweets – very Turkey-like, again

a hammam in town, once again very Turkish

the hammam, in the mirroring windows of a neighbouring modern building

Gavi Husref Bey madrasse, founded in 1537

and the entrance to the Gavi Husref Bey mosque, the biggest mosque in Sarajevo, from 1526

the Gavi Husref Bey mosque, the central mosque of Sarajevo

inside the mosque, a decorated ceiling

and a corner, with trompe-l’oeil effect

the city hall of Sarajevo, built at the end of the 19th C, and the last place visited by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife in 1914, before they were shot

However, moving downstream the Miljacka River that flows through town, the newer parts of the city appear, in the form of the neo-classical Austro-Hungarian architecture. The Austro-Hungarians annexed the country in the late 19th C, and held on to it until the First World War – which, of course, was triggered in Sarajevo, as well. Many of these houses are lining the river; interestingly, some have in the meantime be replaced, by modern buildings, making the architectural makeup of this part of the city a hotchpotch of different styles.

houses along the the Miljacka River in the centre of town

the river is lined with elegant old buildings, occasionally interspersed with a modern one

or with the standard concrete fare of the post-war Socialist era, interspersed with the occasional old building

some of those elegant buildings are extravagantly decorated

bullet holes affect many of the buildings in the centre of the city

restored, to be sure, but definitely Ottoman characteristics

but decoration also comes in the form of this innocent detail

this decoration is more Art Nouveau-like

the fabulous facade of a technical college (I suspect)

UNITIC twin towers in the back, and the Holiday Hotel in the front, all badly damaged during the war but now fully restored

RTV DOM building, one block of Brutalist concrete

the concrete and glass History Museum, with military equipment in its garden

also in the garden, a sculpture of Tito

and inside, the most poignant work of art one can imagine in a war-associated city

The Brutalism

Even further downstream, we stumble upon some gems of our newly-discovered interest, Brutalism and Social modernism. Some of those icons, like the Holiday Hotel, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics, and the next-door UNITIC twin towers, were badly damaged in the war, and have been restored, but with a new look. Others, like the RTV DOM building and the History Museum, are a blatantly unreconstructed Brutalist fest of concrete. And the Alipasino Polje neighbourhood from the 1970s, well, that competes once again with the Blokus 62 and others in Belgrade. Less sophisticatedly built, perhaps, but similarly an attempt to create a whole community, with schools, playgrounds and other facilities. And here especially standing out by it sheer size, it looks like there are endless numbers of sky-high residential towers here – I read somewhere that Alipasino Polje has an estimated almost 30,000 people living here.

The ICAR Canned Beef Monument, a memorial to the food aid delivered during the Siege of Sarajevo, but also a swipe at the type of aid: barely-edible canned food, instead of weapons

 

view of part of the Alipasino Polje neighbourhood, a concrete housing estate

the Saint Luke Evangelical church, modern-day Brutalism – the church is not yet finished

another view of the church

That Brutalism is not only limited to the 1970s-80s is proved by the Saint Luke Evangelical church, in this same neighbourhood, which was started in 1998 and, apparently, still not finished due to lack of funds. It is another concrete monster, designed, incidentally, by the same architect as did the Holiday Hotel and the UNITEC Towers in the 1980s.

the Papagajka building from the outside, painted in the colours of a parrot

But the best I keep for the end. We had unwittingly booked our apartment in perhaps the best building of Sarajevo, the absolutely Brutalist Papagajka building, from 1982. Papagajka means parrot, and the colours are those to match. The apartments are tiny, as in a true pallati, and the structure is unbeatable in its originality. And the best thing, although this may have been a later addition, is that it has a lift.

the courtyard inside, with stairs and the lift shaft

another view of the courtyard

 

 

Oh, and the absolutely very best we keep for the very last, the Igman Hotel outside the city.

the Holy Trinity Monastery in Pljevlja

Blog entries

a delicate fresco of a fisherman in the church of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Pljevlja

The first reference to this Serbian Orthodox monastery was made in 1573. Allegedly, some of the frescoes inside are from shortly afterwards, when the sanctuary and the nave we painted by one Father Strahinja of Budmilje. Many of the frescoes are pretty dark, against a black background. The iconostasis, on the other hand, is one of the brightest.

Because there was a funeral wake going on, the lights were on in the church, which makes a whole lot of difference in viewing the frescoes, especially those higher up. Photography is officially forbidden, of course, but he, how else are you going to enjoy these from your armchair?

the iconostasis, upper left side

same thing, upper right

the lower part of the iconostasis, left half

and the right half of the same

the ceiling of the church is fully covered with frescoes

note the dominace of black as background

individual niches have also been covered

and another wall (which indludes the fisherman from above)

35. the road to Sarajevo

Blog entries

a stecci field near Zabljak, in the mountains roughly halfway Pogdorica and Sarajevo

We take two days to drive the 350 km from Podgorica to Sarajevo, again not along the shortest route, but definitely a more scenic one. Taking in some historically relevant sights, as well. (Two days, scenery and sights, so brace yourself for a lot of photographs again….)

an impressive modern viaduct, the Moracica bridge, part of the main motroway in Montenegro

The Moraca River

Just north of Podgorica we enter the Moraca River gorge, along an excellent road providing great views of the steep mountains and the green river below. The road is really pasted against the mountain, it looks sometimes, with a steep abyss on one side – if we are not passing through a tunnel, of which there are many, along the 70 kms, or so. Funny, after about one-third of the way we pass under an enormous bridge: this is where the new highway goes, one we didn’t know existed – but wouldn’t want to have taken, either, omitting the gorge all together.

a tunnel at the gorge in the Morica River

another view of the gorge

with the road plastered against the rocks

past the gorge, the countryside opens into the pretty Moraca Valley

where houses are still of the old standard

needing a bit of maintenance, perhaps

but before that, an explosion of autumn colours

Near Kolasin we exit the gorge, but we continue to follow the river through a wider valley for another 15 kms. As we are getting higher, the autumn colours become more dramatic, with entirely red-yellow forests on the other side, with higher, bare peaks towering above. We then start our ascent, steeply up the mountains, to what I think is called the Semolj pass at 1540 m, and down on the other side into another valley. Which gradually changes in a high plateau, with less and less vegetation, and still the high mountains in the back. Spectacular landscape, especially because of the changes from one area to the next, over relatively short distance, all in one day.

like this variety of reds and yellows

 

higher up towards the Semolj pass we drive into the mist

this is the mountain range we need to cross

but on the other side, expansive views again

fabulous mountain scenery

and somewhere along the road, an old Yugoslav memento

as well as an abandoned hotel

with the concrete decorated, this time

down in the valley, once again a beautiful countryside

so nice that they have made it into a park, the Durmitor National Park

the first stecci site, called Grčko groblje (Greek graveyard)

some of the stecci have elaborate scenes carved on them

others are just in the form of a coffin

the second stecci site, Bare Žugića

with some recognisable tomb stones

and another one, top part (?) decorated

the sides carved in patterns

Zabljak

Near Zabljak, which is the centre for touring the so nice that they have made it into a park, Durmitor National Park, we check out two sites with stecci (plural of stecak), both added to Unesco’s World Heritage List. Stecci are tomb stones, some carved and some not, that started to appear in Bosnia and Hercegovina and in its bordering areas in Montenegro and Croatia in the 12th C. The practice was discontinued again at the beginning of the 16th C, with the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia. The most atmospheric site is the one called Grčko groblje (Greek graveyard), where one large stecak dominates the low hill top, and is surrounded by 30 or 40 more, some better recognisable than others. Indeed, some of the tombs are carved, either with a cross, with side decorations or – rarely – with a whole scene. The second site, Bare Žugića, is a necropolis with some 300 stećci, right next to the road, but many of those are difficult to differentiate from rock boulders.

and just before Zabljak, another riot of autumn colours

this is the Tara River Valley

Past Zabljak we cross the Tara River, which downstream has cut a canyon of 1300 m deep. We have no time to explore this phenomenon, and will have to contend with the river at the Tara Bridge, which is already pretty impressive – both the bridge, 365 meters long and completed in 1940, and the river, 172 meters lower.

and this is the Tara bridge

and in a bit more detail, very tall

and indeed, the river is very far below the bridge level

the 16th C Hussein Pasha Mosque

and its front porch

with a beautiful entrance door

and an equally attractive balcony over a window

Pljevlja

In Pljevlja we stop to admire the beautiful Hussein Pasha Mosque, built in 1569 and with 42 meters boasting the highest minaret in the Balkans. Like many of the old mosques we have encountered so far, this one, too, has its outside painted with elaborate frescoes featuring geometric patterns and floral motifs; unfortunately, the mosque is closed so the inside remains hidden. The nearby Holy Trinity Monastery is slightly older than the mosque, from 1537. It is open, and because there is a funeral wake ongoing in the front portal of the church, all the lights inside are on – and its frescoes clearly visible. The highlight here, though, is a brilliantly carved and gilded iconostasis. More pictures here.

the church of the Holy Trinity Monastery

 

witch has a fabulous iconostasis, as well as frescoes everywhere

the monastery buildings outside

more frescoes, wherever there is space to paint

the road to the border, once more full of autumn colours, in between the pines

traffic is light, in this part of the country

hmm, at a certain stage we decided to turn back again

From Pljevlja an excellent road is slowly climbing to the border, along the way deteriorating quickly. The countryside is once again spectacular, the bright autumn colours interspersed with the dark green of the pine trees. There is hardly any traffic, and indeed we are the only car at the border crossing. From where we go down on an even worse road – no more tarmac available to repair the holes.

to Visegrad

the Drina River, or one of the several artificial lakes in it

Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, our GPS suggests a shortcut for our detour to Visegrad, where we want to see a bridge built by the most renowned architect of the Ottoman empire, Mimar Sinan. But the shortcut is short-lived: not only has the road by now degraded to an unsurfaced track – or perhaps once-surfaced is a better term, there are traces of asphalt left -, we come across warning signs not to proceed any further because of uncleared mines. A nice little reminder that Bosnia and Hercegovica was a war zone not that long ago. So we backtrack to the main road, which runs along the Drina River, with more spectacular gorges, occasionally interrupted by a dam.

towards Visegrad, again multiple tunnels, but creatively lighted

not every bridge is a wonder of engineering, but this one still makes for a good picture

a small town on the way to Visegrad

the Mehmed Pasha Sokolović Bridge

The Mehmed Pasha Sokolović Bridge was built in 1571 and named after the grand vizier who commissioned it. With its eleven arches this is the mother of all bridges we have seen this trip, truly a design and engineering Sinan masterpiece. Entirely worth the detour.

Driving into Sarajevo, a few hours later, the most relaxed entry of a city ever, nothing compared to Prishtina or Tirana, for instance. Before we know it, we are suddenly in the middle of town, no major boulevards, no important through roads, no traffic jams, just right in the centre, in front of our booked apartment

designed by 16th C Ottoman star architect Sinan

another view on bridges

34. Podgorica

Blog entries, Locations

an unlikely scene in Podgorica, a lonely fisherman at the banks of the Moraca River, oblivious of the Brutalist explosion around him

The various guidebooks and websites identify exactly one landmark in Podgorica, the Millenium Bridge, a 176 m long cable supported bridge over the Moraca River. And indeed, in the late afternoon sunlight this is a nice, if humble sight. But those guidebooks and websites have obviously no eye for the real gems of the city, a couple of truly Brutalist buildings from the Yugoslav-era concrete construction boom, led by home-grown Montenegrin architect Svetlana Kana Radevic. Of whom there is a more-than-life-size mural in the downtown neighbourhood.

the only official landmark, the Millenium Bridge

a mural of Svetlana Kana Radevic, homegrown female star architect of Brutalism

the Hotel Podgorica

one of the Brutalist highlights of town

competing with the sports centre along the river

which displays concrete

in many forms and shapes

the building of the Communist Party Committee. aptly called ‘the two coffins’

Brutalist Gems

Radevic was the creator of the Pogdorica Hotel, her first major work, completed in 1967 and proof that Brutalist doesn’t necessarily needs to be tall – as long as there is sufficient concrete. The hotel did suffer disrepair in the 1990s, but after privatisation in 2005 is operating again, and quite successfully from the looks of it – although I wonder how the interior looks, right now. There is much more Brutalist architecture from Radevic, but we had to limit ourselves because of time. So we checked out other architects’ work with the nearby Sportski Centar Moraca, a collection of sports arenas under fabulously curved roofs originally constructed in 1979, as well as the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, also 1979, and nicknamed ‘the two coffins’. Fabulous buildings – if you are open to this type of construction, of course, locally called Socialist Modernism.

A little further from the centre is the Radio and TV Building, another concrete monstrosity, enlightened with glass-like towers, but in essence concrete slabs and concrete walls, in mostly straight lines. It was built as early as 1970, and it looks like it is still in use today.

the radio and TV building, concrete with a twist

like this part-glass tower

and layered concrete floors at the top

the apartment towers of Block Pet, five identical buildings, only differing – slightly – in colour

each tower intriguingly constructed with conspicuous bulges

and the ubiquitous staircase from top to bottom

individual balconies patched up and decorated

and some parts even brightly, daringly, painted

Block Pet

The real Brutalist neighbourhood is what is called Blok Pet (Block 5, in English), a collection of five tall residential tower, up to 16 floors high, and eight stretched out lower apartment buildings, in a community setting with play grounds, supermarkets and coffee bars that could compete with the structures in Belgrade’s blokus 62. The towers have odd protruding elements to them, at different heights, and vertical open stairwells – in some cases painted in a contrasting colour. The project was built between 1977 and 1984, and there is clearly some wear and tear, but residents do try to keep up the appearance, with occasionally jolly painted balconies. I manage to slip into one of the halls, and can confirm that these are too tall to have stairs only; there was a lift available.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most brilliant gem of all, the Catholic Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus, built in 1969. This is concrete as concrete is supposed to be used, brutalism as brutalism is supposed to look. We have seen quite a few churches during this trip, mostly elegant buildings with delicate frescoes inside. There is nothing elegant here, and inside – the ethnic-Albanian priest was kind enough to let us in – nothing delicate. But as a monument to Brutalism, this is fabulous!

the concrete-only Catholic church from the outside,

and the same, equally concrete-only, on the inside

minimalist in the extreme

the old town, miserable in miserable weather

and the only real attraction in the old town, a stone tower

complete with old houses, in a prime location, yet untouched

the town centre, domain of children’s cars

in a local outside bar the Dutch contribution to the collection is staggering: Bols and De Kuyper

The rest of Podgorica

Is there than nothing else, non-Brutalist, of interest in Podgorica? Hmm, the Old Town, a collection of slightly narrower, winding streets as opposed to the broad and straight boulevards that dissect the city, is in fact not much, except for two mosques, a few old houses in between nondescript others, and a tower. What is called downtown is mildly pleasant in the evening, with Independence Square where children drive around in toy cars, not very different from the way Montenegrin drivers drive their cars, equally chaotic only slower. The restaurants along the pedestrian street are mostly fastfood, and there is very little atmosphere – nothing like Ljubljana, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Prishtina, Tirana, to mention just a few. Podgorica was bombed in WW II and never really recovered, not even by having been called Titograd from 1946 to 1992.

the recently consecrated Orthodox Serbian Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection

with Biblical scenes, like this ark of Noah

the outside of the cathedral built from roughly hewn blocks, some carved

inside, an explosion of modern frescoes

like this one, not sure what to make of it

and what about this one? a form of hell, guarded over by the devil

in which we see Tito, Marx and Engels burning

OK, there is one building that attracts attention, whether you like it or not. The huge Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection, the Serbian Orthodox cathedral that has been under constructing for over 20 years, was finally consecrated in 2013. The exterior is unusual in that it is built from roughly hewn blocks, but in places decorated with carvings, of saints, and of scenes, my favourite being the Ark of Noah. Inside, the frescoes are strikingly modern, mostly depicting the usual bible scenes, but also showing what I would call normal people, even women (!) other than Maria. In the apse above the front entrance is a Judgment Day scene, with Tito, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels burning in hell – in itself a reason to come and see this church. In its modernism, it is actually not bad at all.

33. the Ostrog Monastery

Blog entries, Locations

the Serbian Orthodox Ostrog Monastery glued against the mountain

On our way to Podgorica we first stopped off at an old Roman bridge near the town of Kocani. The Most na Moštanici, constructed in the 3rd Century AD and believed to be the oldest existing bridge in Montenegro, has five graceful arches that crossed the once imposing Mostanica river, not much more than a dribble today.

the Mostanica bridge near Kocani, from the 3rd century AD

with elegant arches large and small

the top of the bbridge has been renovated, obviously

not only the road itself, also its users may create a challenge in Montenegro

entrance to the lower monastery

which is decorated with modern frescoes

The Ostrog Monastery is Montenegro’s most venerated Serbian Orthodox location, and a popular pilgrimage place. It was founded in the 17th C, relatively late compared to many of the other monasteries we have seen this journey, but the only parts remaining are the two tiny rock churches. Both have been extensively decorated with frescoes, forbidden to photograph. Most of the monastery, the Upper Monastery, is a 1923 restoration, after fire destroyed the original. Like the original, the restored structure is also built against the rock, on a narrow ledge, improbably glued against the mountain.

interestingly, also showing normal people

not only saints and other church-related officials

We drive up an extremely narrow, winding and steep road, in a poor state of repair, and often barely wide enough for one car. Busses with tourists and pilgrims are parked somewhat down the slope, and smaller busses take the people up to the Lower Monastery. This is a 1824 building, painted with vivid and colourful frescoes that we are allowed to picture. From here the real pilgrims walk up the last three kilometres to the Upper Monastery, barefoot, halfway passing the small domed Church of St Stanko the Martyr. We non-believers continue by car, the last part of the road slightly more comfortable, and only need to walk up the last 200 m, or so, from the parking.

the Ostrag monastery from below

one of the modern mosaics against an outer wall, part original rock

another mosaic, inside a part-cave

Being in the monastery feels a bit strange; a holy place, all right, but the large groups of people that are clustering in front of the new building, souvenir shops and the lot, doesn’t fit the scenario. And the huge piles of mattrasses and bedding suggests that people – pilgrims, no doubt – also spend the night here, outside in front of the buildings. The various groups are subsequently being guided – to avoid the word herded – through the various chapels and other spaces, mostly decorated with modern mosaics. Only one little chapel still contains original frescoes, of which I sneakily take a picture only to immediately being told off by one of the monks.

On the way back we find that there is actually a much more comfortable new, two-lane road to Danilovgrad and on the Podgorica.

and the old frescoes, also inside a rock-hewn chapel

the view from the monastery, with right part of the narrow zig-zag road upwards

32. Herceg Novi

Blog entries, Locations

one of the many narrow streets in the old town of Herceg Novi

The westernmost Montenegrin coastal town, all the way on the other side of the Bay of Kotor and just a few kilometres from the Croatian border, is Herceg Novi. And it is actually the nicest one. There is some development at the edges of town, with new apartments stacked against the mountain slope, and a big new hotel, but most of the centre of town, and middle part of the promenade that runs all along the coast, is low-rise, and for a large part still villas from the Yugoslav era, it seems. One exception to the low-rise is the gigantic Igalo resort, apparently the Institute Simo Milosevic rehabilitation clinic during the communist times. It is not only the huge sea front building, but a whole set of lower buildings behind it, that belong to the complex – which doesn’t seem to be actively used anymore.

house along the boulevard, closed shutters but with the name of the town!

the diving board, solid concrete

palm-fringed boulevard

and further concrete platforms, in the absence of sand

classic villa from the Yugoslav era

and another, 1970s modernernity, villa model

individual, but very tiny, balconies

the gigantic Igalo resort

easily qualifying for the Brutalist architectural collection of this trip

the Sea Castle, originating from 1382

another, more imposing, view of the castle

from the castle, great views over the harbour and the Bay of Kotor

the Saint Jerome church in the upper part of the old town

surrounded by the Belavista square, with low key terraces, not the screeming tourist type

The old town is really an old town, and once you get a little higher than the promenade, most tourist references have gone; most houses are actually for normal people to live in, not to rent out as an apartment. There are several small churches in town, a pleasant little square to have a coffee, and the so-called Sea Castle, bordering the coast, which is good for the views, but not very interesting otherwise.

parasol, just in case the sun holds out a little longer

 

 

All together a nice town, that even warrants an extra night, and some time on the ‘beach’, which in this part of the world, by lack of sand, consists again of concrete swimming platforms (like we saw in Piran), complete with a concrete diving board. Admittedly, the water of the Adriatic in early October was a little too cold for a dip that reached much further than my toe.

Herceg Novi does warrent an extra night….

31. Kotor

Blog entries

a window overlooking the moat of Kotor, one of the many old-Venetian towns in Montenegro

There is a pretty direct route from Budva to Kotor, but we chose the one over the mountains, which provides for fabulous views of the Lovcen National Park. Some distance inside the park is the Njegoš Mausoleum, built in the 1970s at the top of the park’s second-highest peak, Jezerski Vrh (1657m). The crypt, reached by no less than 461 steps, partly through a tunnel, houses a black granite statue, and presumably the remains, of Montenegro’s greatest hero, Petar II Petrović Njegoš, flanked by the wings of an eagle, under the golden mosaic. Njegos is recognised as an important poet and philosopher, but at the same time he was also one of Montenegro’s rulers during the first half of the 19th C, trying to unite the tribes, and trying to form a union with the Serbs, against the Ottoman empire.

inside the tunnel

the mausoleum of Petar II Petrović Njegoš in the mist, and the stairs and access tunnel in front

and the mausoleum, on top of the park’s second-highest peak, Jezerski Vrh

the view from the platform behind mausoleum

For a non-Montenegrin, not having much in common with the man, paying homage is quite an effort, 461 steps up to the entry, but one is rewarded by the dramatic circular views from the platform behind the tomb.

some of the rough peaks of the Lovcen National Park

Another benefit from the mountain route is that it gives us the opportunity to admire from above the setting of Kotor, on the Bay of Kotor, a large protected basin connected with the sea by a fairly narrow gap at the far end.

 

one of two granite giant guards

and Petar II himself, carved from black granite

and the view of Kotor, down below at the bay of the same name

part of the moat that protects the entrance to fortified Kotot

narrow street in the old town of Kotor

and another one, all well maintained

everywhere another view, like these stairs onto the mountain behind the town

or a window and shutters

this is the access to the Saint John’s church, behind

the little alley decorated with an arch

Kotor

Kotor used to be another Venetian town, from 1420 to 1797, which is when the city fortification were built, an impressive set of walls that run all the way up the mountain slope to the fortress an the top. We have little intention to climb up, in the rain that still comes down in buckets, most of the time. Yet, we do explore the old, walled town, which is at the base of the slope, and is somehow slightly less touristically developed than the coastal towns that we have been to so far. Not every house has a tourist function, there are clearly also normal people living here, which creates a more authentic atmosphere. And at the end of the morning, just before we move on, we are even rewarded with a little sunshine, again.

one of the town squares, this in fron of the old Portugese Saint Luke’s church

the town counts several family palaces, like this one

and every town will also have its clock tower, of course

and here another character, same structure

many of those, like Beskuca Palace, are intricately decorated

here the lion in more detail

this is another palace, the Pima Palace

little street entered under an arch

the main window of the St Tryphon’s cathedral

St Tryphon’s Cathedral, Kotor’s largest building, is itself not very interesting, after the many Serbian monasteries we have seen before, but it does have an interesting Sacral Art Museum, filled with paintings, vestments, delicately formed silver crucifixes and other silver items, and even a few wooden crucifixes, or what is left of them. I never expected to find this so fascinating.

from the museum, 15th C Virgin and Child icon, tempera on wood

a 15th C silver processional crucefix

15th/16th C coloured wooden crucefix

and two lovely17th C coloured wooden reliquaries, of St Barbara and of unknown saint

mosaic floor in the Roman villa in Risan

Mosaics and Rock Paintings

In the nearby village of Risan a Roman villa has been discovered some time ago, complete with remains of Roman mosaics from the 2nd century AD. The descriptions were fabulous, the reality is a little more disappointing. Monochromatic mosaics, mostly geometrical patterns, incomplete: there are much better mosaics in the world.

another mosaic floor, in another room

and this is the gem of the villa (upside down), a depiction of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, reclining on a pillow.

the sign already gives it away

not a too stenuous path to the rock paintings

and in some cases not even depicting anything recognisable

Then a short hop to Lipci, where a narrow road followed by a short walk up a path brings us to “the Balkans’ most comprehensive collection of prehistoric drawings”, dated to the 8th century BC, and they are really disappointing. Very few, monochromatic, could be graffiti for all intents and purposes: there are much better rock paintings in the world.

which are indeed as depicted on the sign, not very impressive

30. the Montenegrin coast

Blog entries, Locations

the entrance to the fortress in Ulcinj one of the many old Venetian towns along the Montenegrin coast

Uncinj

I didn’t know that the coast of Montenegro is a popular tourist destination, of the sun and sea variety – there is very little sand along the Adriatic coast. Ulcinj is the first of a series of coastal towns that cater for the summer vacation.

the modern part of Ulcinj, hotels and apartments stacked against the mountain, and a small beach in front

many ex-Yugoslav towns have a spomenik, a monument for one or another war-time achievement; this is the Liberty Monument in Ulcinj

and this is part of the tiny beach, already packed up for the winter

not particulerly clean, that beach, but who knows, perhaps they will prepare for next season again

the old town, on an admittedly not very appealing afternoon

although some of the stairs and arches are quieter

inside town, everything has a tourist function

some small fishing boats along the equally tiny harbour

The town is built against the mountain slopes, with hotels and apartments stacked on top of each other, and the descent to the beach, the very small pebbly beach, is along slippery stone stairs – slippery because here it has been raining just as hard as in Albania, earlier this morning. But by the time we explore the town, and especially its Fortress, which is more of a labyrinth on a hill, it is dry. The old town is totally given over to the tourist industry, I don’t think anybody is actually living here anymore. Restaurants, rooms for rent, apartments, souvenir shops, is all there is. And most of them have been closed up already, it is early October, the end of the season – the few that are still open are sadly empty, their waiters desperate to draw us in. Not very uplifting altogether, but the price to pay for traveling out of season, I guess.

next day, in the sunshine, the town looks much better

outskirts of Ulcinj, with its fabulous palatis

closed-in balconies, and satelite dishes

The next day it is sunnier, and the fortress looks a bit better, from the distance. But – for us pallati lovers – the outskirts of Ulcinj prove even more attractive, with some fabulous apartment buildings in the brilliant sunshine.

the Montenegrin country side, dominated by calcareous mountains like everywhere in the Mediterranean

the unfinished Adriatic Star hotel in Perazica Do, ruining the small beach there

and offshore, on a small island, a church, why not?

the small port of Petrovac, from above

the small town of Sveti Stefan, on an island

We cannot explore each and every town along the coast, so we skip the old town of Bar, and we just drive into Petrovac, only to turn around straight away. Not our cup of tea. We admire the never-finished Yugoslav era Adriatic Star hotel in Perazica Do, an absolute monster that dominates on its own the entire little tiny bay and associated village, forever ruined.

the outer walls of Budva, another town with Venetian roots

obviously, the whole town is a pefestrian area

once again fortified, and well defensible from the sea

the fortifications from the other side

Budva

But Budva, which was ruled for 400 years by Venice during the Middle Ages, is actually quite nice. Equally over-developed, with an attractive old town, described as mini-Dubrovnik in one of my resources, it is in fact worth a couple of hours stroll – mostly in the rain, again, but its narrow streets are quite attractive. Yet, not a place to linger too long, and definitely not one to stay the night.

the windows in real life, along one of the town squares

and what the tourist stalls make of them

and this is just a pretty picture, ferris wheel in Budva

the Serbian Orthodox Podmaine Monastery, in a Budva suburb

On the way out we do stop at the Serbian Orthodox Podmaine Monastery. The frescoes here are nothing like the ones we have seen in Serbia and in Kosovo, they are much more modern. But they are interesting in their depiction of Judgement Day, being eaten alive by fish and what appears to be a chicken. The star of the show is a communist officer with the red star on his military uniform. Ex-Yugoslavia, after all.

one of the frescoes depicting hell includes a Yugoslav uniformed official

more images of hell, with chicken eating limbs

and fish in a pond doing the same

guilty as charged

29. to Montenegro

Blog entries

quintesentially Albanian: started a business, the same business as everybody else, because they were successful, but now too much competition, and thus the business folded. The number of failed service stations…..

We leave Tirana in the pouring rain, on our way to Montenegro. Somehow, we miss the connection to the motorway, and for an hour, or so, we drive the old road to Shkoder, in the north of Albania. And suddenly the Albania of the past is back again. Here no new developments, no fancy buildings, just the old houses like they were thirty years ago, with the metal doors closing off the small yard inside, and for the rest countryside. And poverty. The weather doesn’t help, of course.

outside Tirana, outside the motorway, the roads are still pretty much as they used to be, or a little worse

the countryside, not very different from 30 years ago

The plan to visit Shkoder is abandoned; it still rains ferociously. We have a coffee at the edge of the Buna River, the one that connects the vast Lake Shkodra with the sea, and forms from here the border with Montenegro. And then we drive on to Montenegro, with visions of the past: along a part of the road the old bunkers are still preserved, in some cases people have just confiscated the land and built their fences around them, without bothering to remove them.

The Border

The border takes time, waiting, but no effort. They are obviously used to foreigners from further away, and we are insignificant, compared to the string of German and Dutch campervans that cross into, and out of Albania using this road. And on the other side? Completely different, far more developed than the sorry state we saw on the Albania side, here are modern villas, fairly new and well-maintained houses, an excellent road.

A little later we arrive in Ulcinj, the first town of the Montenegrin coast.

bunkers confiscated by extending your fence around them, why not?

bunkers along the road to Montenegro

28. return to Tirana

Blog entries, Locations

good nationalist expressions are never far away in Tirana, where we compare with what it was 30 years ago

We cannot go to the Western Balkans, and not go to Tirana. Evidently, judging from friends’ comments, and from more general info, Albania is the holiday country to be, at this moment in time. Lovely people, fabulous nature, great beaches, cheap food and cheap alcohol. Even though the country is not part of ex-Yugoslavia, the focus of this blog, we have to see this with our own eyes. Oh, yes, and we also lived here for two years, almost 30 years ago. Just after the overthrow of the communist regime, which became the start of the Albanian ultra-capitalist era. With quite a few nasty side effects, at the time. Just curious how a country, that was really the pits then, criminal and opportunistic, has turned into Europe’s hottest vacation paradise in the time span of a generation. Brace yourself for far too many photographs!

First Impressions

And obviously, things have changed. Where 30 years ago the only motorway was a five km stretch from the outskirts of the city to the airport, now we enter Albania from Prizren in Kosovo on a perfect four lane road, some 100 km long perhaps, and helped by a 5.5 km long tunnel through the mountains that shaves some 2 or 3 hours off the travel time. There is very little traffic, though. And a maximum speed of, mostly, 80 km/hr is perhaps a bit overprotective?

new infrastructure on the raod from Kosovo

like a brand-new tunnel of 5.5 km

and an equally brand-new motorway

thanks to which the journey across these mountains is significally reduced

In any case, we travel comfortably to Tirana – until we reach Tirana. Where it feels we are back in Prishtina. Thirty years ago there were hardly any cars in Tirana, and they were mostly stolen Mercedes. Now every brand, the more expensive the better, can be spotted on the streets, and you’ve got plenty of time to study them in detail, because the traffic goes snail-pace; all the roads in the centre are completely blocked most of the time. Progress, of sorts.

When I checked booking.com earlier for three nights’ accommodation, I got 1078 options. I remember that 30 years ago there was the Tirana International Hotel, and that was it. Stories abound of people who had booked a room there, and had to double, or triple up, with complete strangers, because there was no other option. After a year, a second hotel opened. Now we had booked a comfortable apartment, with private parking, in the centre. Progress, definitely. Except that we have to pay in cash, of course. No traces of financial transactions.

the outskirts of town look promising; is this the place that defined the concept of palatis for me for so long?

there are even attractive murals around, admittedly paid for by commerce

once the tallest building in Tirana, the International Hotel is now being eclipsed by a much higher Intercontinental, almost finished

The City Centre

We arrive at the end of the afternoon, and of course we cannot wait until the next day to check out the city, find the old points of reference, recognition. The Tirana Hotel, once the tallest building in town, is still there, but is overshadowed by the Intercontinental, which is twice as high, and almost finished. The big round-about that was Skanderbeg Square is now a huge pedestrian plaza, with shiny tiles which must be very hot in summer, because apart from some plastic bench-like structures along the sides, there is nothing. It is empty. Progress? Not really, not according to the Albanian people we talk to.

the National History Museum, with the old image of happy workers joining resistence fighters towards a communist paradise still in place

At the other end of the square is the statue of Skanderbeg, Albania’s national hero, who in the 15th C, after deserting the Ottoman army, fought almost 30 years of guerilla war against them. In which he was highly successful, also in creating ever changing alliances with Christian entities in Italy and Spain, but he never succeeded in creating an really independent Albania.

national hero Georg Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg, on his horse in Skanderbeg Square

the newer images on Skanderbeg Square are a little less imaginitive

and they, they have seen it all before…

Tirana’s own Ferris wheel, which, in reality, cuts the town to its true size

the Ethem Bey mosque used to only have a clock tower behind it, now lots of modern, and much taller, construction

the mosque itself is still nicely decorated around the windows outside

Enver Hoxha’s pyramid, now an IT centre and tourist attrraction that doesn’t mention Hoxha anymore

Next to it is the cute little 18th C Ethem Bey Mosque, with its frescoes outside and inside, once proudly standing on its own – well, with the clock tower from 1822 behind it -, now overwhelmed by new high-rise. On the other side of Skanderbeg, a Ferris wheel, Tirana’s attempt to enter the league of world cities. But it is a sorry version, very small, nothing compared to the London Eye. Nobody is using it, despite the hordes of tourist that are flocking to the square – also something that was totally and utterly absent, unthinkable, 30 years ago.

where 30 years ago childen sled down tobogon-like, off the sides of the pyramid, there are now stairs

and this is the pyramid inside: Hoxha would have turned in his grave if he would still have been burried here

view from the pyramid, towards the great mosque and the mountains

also very nationalistic, traffic lights with the Albanian double eagle – who invents this?!

for old time sake, this was the road home, 30 years ago, driving towards the polytechnic university building

I can go on, of course. The Pyramid, once Enver Hoxha’s mausoleum, then left to rot, then turned into a discotheque, is now wholly refurbished as an IT centre and tourist attraction, with stairs to the top. The tiny stadium next to our compound, at the time, is now a vast commercial enterprise, with a hotel and restaurants, and with the football pitch hidden inside. And everywhere in town ultra-modern high-rise, designed by internationally renowned architects, have appeared, or are under construction. Individually beautiful buildings, without doubt, but put down in the absence of any consistent town planning. Apparently, many of those buildings are being developed with ‘private money’, no bank loans, so no interest payments needed, so no need to create a return. One of the most eye-catching ones was completed five years ago, but nobody is living there yet, no offices are being occupied. Obvious where the money comes from, but the financial strategy here beats me.

along the main avenue, the characteristically yellow government buildings haven’t changed colour

entrance to one of the ministeries, complete with concrete guard house

perhaps the most ingenious modern construction, quite attractive

and this one, the Mariott Hotel next to the old football stadium

one of those new, modern buildings, four differently coloured towers of different height

and another modern design tower

a golden cube, which is also modern architecture building

every religion needs it new church, this is the catholic Saint Paul’s cathedral

and the Orthodox christian cathedral is no less extravagant

somehow retained as another tourist attraction, the old villa of Enver Hoxha himself

It is only when you get to the streets behind the main boulevards that some of old Tirana remains. Most of the pallatis, the cheap four or five story apartment buildings with variably closed-in balconies, have gone, but some are still present, as completely unreconstructed remnants of the past. Occasionally, they have been painted over, to give them a jolly outer appearance, but more often they are like what they were 30 years ago. A reminder that not everybody has benefitted from the unbridled capitalism that has affected much of this country, and that we saw emerge 30 years ago.

and these are the real palatis, unreconstructed examples of the past, still serving a living quarters

a better balcony example, even – the air conditioners are new additions

this is now, and exactly how things looked 30 years ago: no everybody benefitted from unbridled capitalism

note the variety of balconies, some open and others closed in to create an extra room

another key element from 30 years ago, the ubiquitous satelite dish; you would think that is not necessary anymore in a modern European capital city

not every apartment has been modernised

not every window has been refurbished

she, too, has seen it all before

this is obviously less than 30 years old, but the habit of closing in balconies dies hard

an artwork, the Cloud, in front of the National Art Gallery which is being refurbished, or so they say (30 years ago this was euphemism for being ransacked by dodgy dealers)

detail of the Cloud

just around from Skanderbeg Square, a quite attractive sculpture

the bottom station of the cable car to Mount Daiti; the mountain itself was completely out of bounds, 30 years ago

The Tourist Attractions

There are a few new tourist attractions. In the outskirts of the city a cable car leads up to the 1600 m high Mount Dajti, the mountain behind Tirana. At the upper station, just below the top, is an adventure park, a mini golf course, and lots of other silly games, as well as a hotel and restaurant. The view over the city is fabulous: even though Tirana is really a bit far, we can make out the various new constructions, and even the Pyramid.

view from Mount Daiti back onto Tirana

and this is a nice one, another colourful housing estate, perhaps?

the entrance to the high comand bunker, now Bunk’art 1

part concrete, part dug into the mountain

the assembly hall, also entirely dug into the mountain!

long corridors

and how about this for a concrete door

Nearby is Bunk’art 1, a museum in a five storey underground bunker that was built in the 1970s to protect the Albanian communist elite in case of war, and serve as command centre. It now houses an exhibition of the communist past of the country, especially that of the rule of Enver Hoxha, its long-time dictator. To be honest, not very interesting, too much detail, too many old photos of people’s heroes and too many important documents, but in Albanian only. But walking through the bunker is a special experience, and above all cannot better demonstrate the utter waste of resources that this country put into the establishment of its extensive bunker network – some 700,000 bunkers were built all across the country, at each and every intersection, along the coast, in the mountains, between 1967 and 1986 -, designed to withstand a joint Soviet-American attack on Albania. Just look at the assembly hall, inside Bunk’art 1. The promise of art, as part of the exhibition, is a feeble one.

underground corridors right in the centre of town, to facilitate the massive sevret police aparatus

at the entrance of Bunk’art 2

In town is Bunk’art 2, another Albanian paranoia war bunker, dedicated to the history of the police. Smaller than Bunk’art 1, it is however much more poignant, as it details the ways of working, from spying on its own citizens and on each and every foreigner in the country, to punishing the same citizens for perceived treason (like listening to Italian radio, or speaking in denigrating terms about the Party, you know, truly stability-threatening offenses). In five or six rooms lists hanging from the ceiling name all the political prisoners who have died, in custody or fleeing from the police. One section deals with the sealing off of the border by barbed wire, and how people who tried to break through were mercilessly hunted down, with dogs. Another remarks on “the worrying number of accidents for the traffic police. The drivers’ preparation was poor. In 1958 only 1% of all drivers (drivers, not people!) in Albania had first class licence”. Progress, anyone?

and this is the bunker, made into a true attraction which you can enter

tourists flocking around one of the remaining bunkers in town, also unthinkable 30 years ago (the tourist, that is)

and yes, they are still there, the satelite dishes

The Verdict

There is not much else to do in town, except for taking a coffee on one of the many terraces that are lining the streets, and especially the several pedestrian areas. Different from 30 years ago, when everybody just put a kiosk or a small terrace along the main boulevard, or in the park, without any permit, without any town planning permission. Back then, there was no pedestrian area anyhow, because there were so few cars, people just walked up and down the street.

with Ilir, one of my collegues of 30 years ago

Of course Tirana is clearly a different city now, and that was to be expected. Standards of living are higher. The town is remarkably clean, there is not much rubbish around. But whether it has become a better city? My travel companion, a bit of a sucker for nostalgia, thinks the city has lost its soul. Perhaps she is right.

two haphazard tourists re-enacting a scene from the past