Dans notre planification des vacances des fêtes de fin d’année, notre choix de faire un mini road trip tout en évitant que tous les musées, restaurants soient fermés pendant notre séjour fut déterminant dans notre choix de Belgrade, Serbie comme destination. L’Église orthodoxe en Serbie suit le calendrier ‘julien’, pour les fêtes religieuses ce qui signifie que leur jour de Noël est le 7 janvier. Les Roumains bien qu’étant aussi des chrétiens orthodoxes, ont adopté le “nouveau” calendrier grégorien depuis 1919 célébrant donc leur Noël les 25 décembre comme les chrétiens catholiques. Notre voyage touristique nous fera passer 4 jours à Belgrade en passant par Craiova (sud-ouest de la Roumanie) à l’aller et le retour se fera à travers Timisoara (complètement à l’ouest de la Roumanie).
Craiova was not just a pit stop, it was a destination by itself for a few reasons. First, we were looking forward to visit its Art Museum as we are always looking to visit them in any city. Last time we were so disappointed that it was closed for a national holiday lesser known to us. Second, Craiova had been “voted” in the top 3 of European Christmas Markets so a nice stroll in the evening was all indicated.
Right away we noticed that the Constantin Mihail Palace in which the Craiova Art museum has been installed since 1954 was recently restored to its former glory of the beginning of the 20th century. The Romanian Palace with its French style architecture, Carrara marble stairs, Lyon silk walls, Murano glass chandeliers and Venetian mirrors is mesmerizing. In Romania, a completed restauration is noteworthy because of the tremendous effort required to go though bureaucracy, fundraising and finding the right technical and artistic craftmanship to bring back to life such a building. The art collection, as it is often the case in all bigger cities, is a pure reflection of the major classic Romanian painters with an emphasis on local artists. That is why we find six of Brâncuși’s sculptures who is considered as the patriarch of modern sculpture, nothing less. Although he spent most of his life in France, he never forgot that he came from this area of Romania (see my 2019 article mentioning his work in Târgu Jiu).
On the same ground as the Palace, I had seen the recent inauguration of a separate space to present Brâncuși’s life and groundbreaking works. This pavilion has been built underground to probably not dither from the Palace but still as there was no sign for it, it took perseverance to find its entry.
Et puis le soir de notre seule nuit à Craiova, nous sortons pour voir le 3ième plus beau marché de Noël de l’Europe. Franchement, non. Certes, l’étendue et l’agencement des lumières sont ingénieuses et festives mais selon moi, un marché de Noël doit offrir une variété de stands de bouffe et des souvenirs plus saisonniers. Alors, on peut se passer de ces sites d’inspiration voyage qui se basent uniquement sur des sondages indéniablement volontaires.
Le lendemain, nous passons rapidement en Serbie via le pont-douane qui permet de passer du côté ouest du Danube. Notre chemin longera la rivière jusqu’à notre arrêt pour le lunch, l’imposante forteresse de Golubac.
The Golubac fortress’ location must have been very imposing overlooking a narrower part of the Danube river from the 14th century. Hungary, Serbia and later the Ottoman Empire took turns conquering and upgrading this fortress. Now a major Serbian touristic site, the restorations done in the 2010’s gives access to most of the fortress but your ticket is based on the level of difficulty to access certain areas. In the winter, only the low difficulty areas are open to the visitors.
Après cet arrêt, notre destination pour 4 nuits, Belgrade, se présente comme une ville active et agréable à parcourir si on a pris soin de laisser la voiture stationnée. Notre jour de Noël s’est passé à explorer la forteresse Kalemegdan de Belgrade et son musée d’art contemporain sous un beau soleil hivernal. Entre les hautes murailles de la forteresse, on s’étonne d’abord de voir des beaux courts de basketball. On apprend alors que la Serbie s’est développé une renommée mondiale dans ce sport depuis 1945.
On the other side of the fortress the view on the Sava river meeting the Danube river is impressive. The Monument of the Victor, honoring the victory of the Serbian army in the Balkan wars, stands where it was finally agreed that all his nakedness would have less chance to be shocking than in the city centre.
Le lendemain, une autre ville, une autre forteresse sur le Danube. Novi Sad est à environ 1 heure de route de Belgrade mais le déplacement en vaut certainement la peine. Contrairement aux deux forteresses précédentes, celle de Petrovaradin est de construction beaucoup plus récente datant de l’époque de l’empire austro-hongrois bâtie entre 1692 à 1780.
The next morning, we are back on the road to return to Romania and stay one night in Timișoara. While we were there, you could see how much this town was getting ready to be one of the European Capitals of Culture in 2023. Some of the buildings had received a facelift (or were applying the final touches) on their most iconic buildings of secessionist architecture along the main pedestrian street. This architecture style was inspired by Germany’s adaptation of Art Nouveau and then spread also in Vienna. Timișoara has therefore been nicknamed “Little Vienna.”
Et le lendemain nous prenons le chemin du retour vers Bucarest pour finir l’année 2022 entre amis et débuter notre dernière année en Roumanie.
