Szentendre: tourist traps of Serbian town north of Budapest (18 images)
Published on
Story by
davorko
Szentendre is a picturesque town situated on the Danube, just 30 minutes north of the Hungarian capital. It is known for its galleries, artist colony and museums. Six years after his first visit to the local tourist favourite, Croatian photographer Davor Konjikusic snaps ordinary life
This photo-gallery is part of cafebabel.com’s 2011-2012 feature focus on the Balkans, Orient Express Reporter 2, a project co-funded by the European Commission and with the support of Allianz Kulturstiftung. Many thanks to the team at cafebabel.com Budapest
Szentendre is 20km away from the centre of Budapest and takes almost 45 minutes by train. Another ten minutes by foot from the train station, and you're in the old historic part of Szentendre (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
The nineteenth century Serbian writer Jakov Ignjatovic is a famous son of Szentendre, where around 80 Serbians live, according to the director of a local museum (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
After spending time under Turkish rule until the eighteenth century, Szentendre remains a beautiful town-come-tourist trap (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Despite the town's reputation for being an artist hub, the Hungarian government doesn’t subsidise large workshops, so the artist movement has ended moving out to the streets (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Szentendre was an important centre for the Serbian national minority and once a centre for this minority in Hungary. Today the Belgrade orthodox cathedral stands empty during worship (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
(Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Due to its beauty, more and more people people are selling their homes, making Szentendre a hotspot for second residential homes for richer Hungarians (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Hence an increased surveillance state on private property, concealing the wonderful gardens within from the public eye (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
In the new part of Szentendre things are not changing so quickly (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
'Corner' restaurant, and its appetising installations on the walls (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
While the old part of Szentendre is packed with tourists from all over the world, at the train station life goes as usual (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Bus to the new part of Szentendre (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
A local competition awarding the writing of primary school children (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
In the non-touristic part of Szentendre, the main attraction is the circus Colorado, where the workers on one occasion break out into arguments in front of their little audiences (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
Unusual Hungarian landscape by the circus (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
The amusement park stands empty during the day (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
One of the circus members, who recently worked as a chef in Dubai, is the only person who wanted to pose in front of our cameras (Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
(Image: © Davor Konjikusic for 'Orient Express Reporter Budapest' by cafebabel.com/ davorko.net/)
This article is the first in an instalment from one of cafebabel.com’s flagship projects of 2012, the sequel to 'Orient Express Reporter', sending Balkan journalists to EU cities and vice versa for a mutual pendulum of insight. Many thanks to the team at cafebabel.com Budapest