Most cities in Europe are proud of their history. They make efforts to preserve the old buildings that showcase how long the city has stood where it is.

It’s part of the reason why traveling to Europe is so great. Cobble-stoned streets. Car-free centers. People riding bikes, old architecture, cafes, squares.

It’s like stepping back in time fifty, one hundred, two hundred or even five hundred years.

Russians are no exception. They too love Europe. Ask any Russian and they’ll have a go-to favorite European country.

Some like Germany, the Berlin clubs, the Bavarian beer. Others are fans of Italy, the pasta, the seafood, the beaches.

Then there are the Russians who love France and Paris, or those that can’t enough of London. Others opt south and go with Spain.

Millions of Russians travel to Europe each year to spend their hard-earned rubles and enjoy staying in cities with beautiful, historic architecture.

Unfortunately, this love for old architecture among Russians ends as soon as they return back home.

It’s truly a strange phenomenon.

As a foreigner who has lived in Moscow for several years, I struggle to understand it.

Travelling to Europe to enjoy old architecture, then coming back home and not caring at all when that same kind of architecture is destroyed in your country.

I probably wouldn’t care that much either, if I didn’t see the consequences of what such a mentality has to the city.

Because month by month, year by year, all of the historic architecture in Moscow is disappearing.

Beautiful, old buildings that any foreign tourist would love are being systematically torn down and skyscrapers, shopping malls, business complexes are being built in their place.

You would think that a people that so loves to travel to Europe and see all the historic buildings would come back to Russia and try to defend the last bit of old architecture that is left in the city.

But sadly, that’s not the case. Most people don’t care. Others actively support tearing down old buildings.

Let’s take a look at the latest victim of this passive, “who cares” mentality: A set of buildings located near the Krasnoselskaya metro in Moscow on Rusakovskaya Street.

These buildings were erected in the 1920’s and are some of the earliest examples of constructivist architecture in Russia and around the world. In February 2018, the city announced that they would be torn down and new buildings would be built in their place to house people who voted in favor of a controversial, renovation program.

When I heard the news back then, I immediately rushed to the area to take photos of these buildings while they were still fully in tact.

At the time, I couldn’t really believe they would tear down such a beautiful building. But a week ago, I rode my bike next to it and saw all the windows had been removed. It looks like the demolition will indeed happen. In a few short weeks, one of the earliest examples of constructivist architecture in the entire world will be razed to the ground.

This isn’t some random building with no historical value. For almost an entire century, it formed the heart and soul of Rusakovskaya street. These are those buildings after a rainy day in 1953.

Originally the buildings were only five stories high. But in the decades that followed two additional stories were added, giving them their current height of seven stories. You can see them on the right side of this photo in 1988, in the last days of the Soviet Union before it collapsed.

Several decades later, the building still stands in the same place, abandoned and forgotten, and soon to be torn down forever. The decision to tear down this building is especially perplexing, given the fact that right across the street you have historic buildings from the same time period in the 1920’s that were renovated in the 2000’s. Today they are the most beautiful apartments in this section of Moscow. In other words, you have a perfect example of how buildings from this time period could be preserved, right across the street.

But of course, this falls on deaf ears when it comes to city officials who do not value their own history and prefer to just tear it all down.

Rusakovskaya street, where the building is located, is one of the last major roads in Moscow that still has trams running on it.

Nearly forty years earlier in 1981, we see the street had a lot more trees and greenery, most of which has been cut down since then.

The building Русаковскова 6 has stood empty since the 2000s when a commission by Moscow’s former mayor Yury Luzhkov declared the building too dangerous to live in. The residents were moved out against their will to other areas of Moscow, mostly near metro Bulvar Rossokovskogo, the last metro stop on the red line.

The city at the time planned to demolish the buildings and build a huge parking lot in their space. But the commission was disbanded later and the project never realized. The building has stood empty in this area for over a decade.

Despite being empty, there was always hope that it would eventually be reconverted to modern use. It may not win any awards for being the most beautiful building in Russia. But it is a fine example of early Soviet architecture, that many businesses or people would happily settle in.

But it looks like the building’s fate has been sealed. A large metal fence has been erected that now surrounds the building and there are all the marks of a demolition being planned.

A view of the balconies that once belonged to families who lived here and were forced to move out.

It’s not just the yellow building on Русаковская 6 that is being torn down. The grey buildings nearby are next in line to be demolished. These buildings were built at the same time in 1927 and despite their historical status, are going to be destroyed forever. R.I.P Русаковская улица, дом 2, строение 1 & 2.

Here is how they looked back in the 1920’s and 1930’s immediately after they were built.

The sign reads: “Dear Muscovites, on this 3,807 meter land plot, we plan to ‘save 14 trees, re-plant no trees, and cut down 33 trees.” So much for greenery.

These used to be wide windows of stores offering window-shopping. Now they have been completely gutted.

All the other windows are also gone.

A proper renovation could have turned this little part of Krasnoselsky into a beautiful mixed-used center. Modern lofts could be sold, co-working spaces and hip cafes set up. There are tons of examples of old buildings around Moscow that have been successfully converted and are thriving now. Just take a look at ArtPlay or Depo, where old, factories that had fallen into disrepair were preserved instead of being torn down. Today, they are some of the most popular parts of the city.

You literally have buildings right across the street built at the same time in 1926 which were preserved. Why couldn’t the city do the same with these constructivist buildings?

Walking further into the courtyard, we can see that half of the playground for the kids has been occupied.

Courtyards like this are becoming a rarity in Moscow. If outside on the street there is a lot of noise from cars, in the courtyard it is quiet and peaceful. The only sound comes from kids running around, laughing and playing and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. All of this will be a construction site soon.

You could be anywhere in France and Germany, there’s nothing that distinguishes a place like this from similar housing in Europe. But the people who live here clearly don’t care about any of that. The residents in the building in the background voted to be included in the renovation program and to have their building torn down.

If you think this is some kind of isolated cases of construction chaos, you are mistaken. In 2017 the city passed a law on a new renovation program for all of Moscow. According to the program, 4,000 buildings just like these will be demolished.

I will never understand the people that voted in favor of such destruction. How can anyone in their right mind support tearing down the neighborhood they grew up in, where their parents grew up, where all their childhood memories were formed. All because they don’t want to renovate their flat on their own or want a few extra meters of space in their kitchen.

From the courtyard, you can see just how grand and majestic the building really is.

And the city is barbarically going to destroy it in the next few weeks.

I don’t know how the construction workers sleep at night, destroying the city’s history.

The building looks especially nice in the Autumn weather.

In any other city in Europe, this building would be renovated and taken care of. The people who lived in it would be proud to live in such a historic building.

But in Russia, people are embarrassed by it.

And because of this, the building will see the last of its days.

Rusakovskaya will no longer be the same street without this structure. Instead of a quiet, old historic district near the center of Moscow, we will get yet another construction dump.

How many families were raised here, whose homes will be forever destroyed.

You can still see the wallpaper inside the different apartments, keeping alive their memories.

Their balconies that could have been renovated and preserved.

Beautiful apartments with thick brick walls and high ceilings. Apartments that could be some of the most expensive property in Moscow.

All of this, gone forever, because the people that live nearby, such as in this building here, voted in favor of the renovation program.

So who’s to blame for the loss of this historic district in Moscow?

At first, I was ready to just blame the city government.

After all, they are the ones setting urban policy in Moscow. They decided not to afford these buildings historical status and preserve them.

They are the one’s that came up with the idiotic renovation program that has destroyed the concept of private property in Russia.

As it turns out, you can’t buy an apartment in Moscow anymore after that law was passed.

Because at any moment, the people who live in your building can decide they don’t like it anymore and vote to be included in a renovation program.

And then that apartment you bought, and invested your money in to renovate, where you thought you would live the rest of your life and raise your kids in, all of a sudden is taken away from you because your neighbors had a different opinion.

In other words, your neighbors have more of a right to your property, than you do yourself.

Welcome to Moscow in the 21st century, a city where the most basic institution of private property does not work.

So it’s easy to blame the government.

But of course, that’s only one side of the coin. The other side is much more depressing.

Because at the end of the day, the people who live here voted to destroy this district. They voted in favor of the renovation program, and they knew exactly what would happen to this district afterwards.

They knew the city would destroy it. They consciously voted in favor of such destruction.

It’s a phenomenon I will never be able to understand. Russians travelling to Europe to enjoy historic architecture, but then destroying that same exact kind of architecture in their own country.

As a result of this warped mentality, we can all say goodbye to yet another beautiful, historic neighborhood in Moscow.

R.I.P. Русаковская улица, дом 6. 1925-2019

For those people in Moscow that do care, I suggest you all take some time out of your busy schedules and try to visit these buildings while they are still standing.

Because soon the only place you will be able to see them is in the pages of some history books.

 

 

We visited Ellicott City, Maryland in early January. We are based in Washington DC, and the city is located only a 40 minutes drive away on the road toward Baltimore.

What a better way to spend the weekend than visit some small towns near the city we live in.

 

When we got there, the first thing we noticed was this house in a parking lot being transported to a new location.

Turns out, this is the Thomas Isaac log cabin. Named after a 19th-century owner, the cabin was believed to have been built around 1780 by an early Ellicott’s Mills settler.

After Ellicott City was hit with severe flooding in 2016 and 2018, the city decided to move the cabin away from Main Street while post-flood repairs continue in the town’s center.

 

Up ahead we saw the town pan out before us. It is a small American town that you can find across the United States. The type of town you would find a Ray Bradbury novel set in. Small town America at its finest.

The fence on the right turns out to be a temporary measure that was added there because the city recently suffered severe floods that damaged of the center.

We began walking toward the center of town and the traditional American houses stood their in all their beauty and simplicity. This is the real America that not enough people visit, and that is unfortunately dying.

Young people are leaving to work in bigger towns and small cities like Ellicott City are emptying out.

A typical American dive bar.

An old American home. Thank god developers have not come to Ellicott City yet to tear down these houses.

Another typical American home.

As we walked toward the city center the buildings began to vary.

The center of Ellicott City. The town is located on a hill with a steep drop into the city center. The yellow building on the left is the Firehouse Museum and on the right you have traditional houses with small shops located inside selling a range of goods.

The Firehouse Museum. What a beautiful building. I like the bell on top, it must be over 100 years old.

Ellicott City row houses.

Each of these houses play host to a small shop inside that sells different goods that are perfect for Christmas gifts.

The storefronts to these businesses.

These houses on the hill looked like they were about ready to fall off. In the background you can see Ellicott City’s church which towers over the rest of the land.

Another storefront.

The Howard County Marketing Office. I think that every city should have one of these. This one was in the center with all of the plans for Ellicott City in the upcoming year on display, including plans to promote the city to tourists.

It’s such a joy to walk down streets like this with window shopping on the side. These kind of stores are struggling because of Amazon and the rise of online shopping. It’s our duty to support them if we don’t want them to die out.

A sign for an antique shop.

I like the brick buildings. A lot of retail space was available.

Now let’s address what would make Ellicott City better. Like a lot of American cities, Ellicott City has no pedestrian street. Here we are in the center of the city and it is essentially just one big road open for traffic.

In my opinion, this would be a perfect area for the city to start its pedestrian street from. By turning the center of Ellicott City into a pedestrian zone, the city would get a vibrant town center without people having to constantly worry about crossing the street. Foot traffic in stores would go up, and in all likelihood, tourist visits to the city would go up too.

Ellicott City can copy the example of Cumberland, Maryland, which turned its center into a pedestrian street and created a proper center that most American cities should have if they ever want to ween themselves off of the car.

The buildings here are absolutely beautiful. Think of how cool this street would be with outdoor cares for seating, bike lanes, benches and foot traffic. Instead all we here is a city where people are confined to the sidewalks while the majority of the street is set aside for cars.

More beautiful buildings. I like how the houses are stacked up against each other, and then are all built in slightly different styles. Also props to the house on the left with all the Christmas reefs.

Walking further down the center. This street needs to be pedestrianized.

The Firehouse Museum and the Ellicott City church, looking up at them.

Another look in the other direction. The Firehouse Museum is a good example of how you can take a very small simple building and turn it into a museum to preserve a portion of the city’s history.

A beautiful stone building and front porch. On the first floor was a really good café with some outdoor seating and tables.

The stores in Ellicott City seemed to specialize in selling awesome stuff. Virtually every store we walked into had some cool items to sell. For example, this table made out of a bike.

Or this store with a bunch of cool Native American stuff.

Ellicott City’s main church.

Most of Ellicott City winds down and follows this main road At the bottom of the hill the city levels out and it is easier to walk.

There were also some narrow streets where you could add street side cafes. Of course, we visited at the start of January when everything was cold and nobody was outside, but in the summer this would be a perfect street to set up some outdoor seating on.

When we got to the bottom of the hill Ellicott City’s center evened out and it was easier to walk. But it still felt like the center was really car prone. They have signed for bikes, but very few people riding bikes. Perhaps because the city is dominated by cars.

Of course, developing a robust biking culture in Ellicott City is difficult because of the hilly terrain, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Imagine this street without any cars, it would be beautiful.

More beautiful old architecture. Cities in the United States need to make every effort in preserving such architectural beauties.

Simply stunning. Here we are in the heart of Ellicott City. The city is just begging for a pedestrian street here.

This house is wonderful.

There is something about buildings constructed from brick and stone that gives them value. When I look at these two buildings, I can see and feel the history steeping out of them. We love Europe because the historic centers of their cities have been preserved to this day. We wouldn’t think of tearing down those small one or two story buildings in Europe’s major cities because they are a testament to the history of these nations, that they have lived and belonged to this area for centuries.

But in the United States, these kind of historic buildings are being massively torn down all over the country. Especially in cities where gentrification is ongoing and where the local city decides to build elite modern apartments by tearing down old buildings like these. That is not good, that is what will destroy America’s cities.

In Ellicott City, at least we can get a sense of what that early America felt like, and it is because these kind of buildings are there and they are left standing.

Simply stunning. If you took away the cars and added trams, you could be in any other country in Europe.

If you think this is all just wishful thinking on my part think again. Here is what Ellicott City looked like all the way up until the mid 20th century. You had a tram running in the center of Main Street.

In fact, you had trams in almost all of America’s cities. They called them streetcars, but for all purposes they were trams. America was in fact a very European kind of country up until WWII.

Unfortunately after WWII the country came up with a disastrous plan to promote car ownership and home ownership for the country’s white people. Through propaganda, they convinced the wealthy elite in American cities that luxury and prosperity meant owning a house on the outskirt of the city and driving into the city everyday for work.

In the process, trams were destroyed, roads were widened, and the European nature of America’s cities disappeared.

In part of the city you still have pedestrian only areas, like this historic small bridge over the canal that stands over the city.

The view of the bridge in the other direction. Just look at how beautiful those historic houses are.

Amazing architecture ruined by cars. Why do you need the center of Ellicott City, the most beautiful part of this historic American city to be constantly stuck in a traffic jam. Why not turn this into a pedestrian street?

At the bottom of the street is the B&O Railroad Station, one of the oldest railroad stations in the United States that preserved its historic form.

In countless other countries railroad stations have been torn down and modernized. It happens all the time in Russia unfortunately. Here is an example of what a real railroad station should look like.

It should be historic and preserve the look of the city. Why? Because a railroad station is the first impression of a city. A city with an old railroad station that is connected in the city center means you have a city that preserves its history.

Ellicott City’s train station is the oldest remaining passenger train station in the United States. It was built in 1830 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railway and served as one of the main stops between Baltimore on the way toward the Ohio River Valley and off to the Midwest.

Instead of tearing down train stations, cities need to preserve their old train stations. We don’t need modern buildings at the expense of old buildings. We need to preserve our history.

Here is the view of Ellicott City that opens up as you exit the train station. Take away the cars, add in a central plaza and a fountain and a tramp and you get the center of any European city. This should be the goal of Ellicott City.

If I were to choose, I would have the pedestrian street start to the left of this intersection.

The railroad is located next to the Patapsco River.

The Patapsco River. On the other side are the Wilkins Rogers Mills, a flour and corn meal milling company first established in 1913 in Washington DC. In the 1960s and 1970s the company moved its headquarters to Ellicott City to this factory.

The original factory was built in this location in 1792, but I couldn’t find information as to when the current factory was built.

The bridge over the Patapsco River looking toward historic Ellicott City.

Another view of the river.

An example of a beautiful historic American home. Houses like these need to be protected by the law. In several parts of Washington DC, developers have been tearing down historic examples of American architecture to build huge cheap versions of houses that are destroying America’s neighborhoods.

The entrance into Ellicott City.

Ellicott’s Mills: Established 1772 by the three Ellicott brothers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They opened the road from here to Baltimore. The B. and O. R. R. was completed to this point on May 20, 1830.

The Trolley Stop. I wonder what was inside this building.

A nice little bench to sit on and read a book on the other side of the river.

The river bank.

Entering into the city.

We went into one of the cafes to drink some coffee and warm up.

Dark roast or light roast?

Here is how the entrance into the café looked from the street. Note how the doors are old and historic instead of modern. All of this adds to the beauty and authenticity of a place.

More store entrances.

A really narrow entrance into someone’s house.

Back out onto main street. It really is a beautiful street.

Just take away the cars, add a tram and bike lanes and this would be a stunning place to live.

A church on a hill. Not sure what it is called.

More window shopping and store front cafes. I love the wheel barrel.

The entrance to a café.

Another spooky entrance into someone’s home. Imagine if you lived here.

Looking back at Ellicott City as it begins to get dark.

And the last one for the road. We saw some deer in the parking lot. It looks like we weren’t the only ones leaving the city for the night.

Overall, I was really impressed with Ellicott City. It is a historic town located outside of Baltimore that has preserved has preserved what American towns used to look like before WWII. Despite suffering damage in 2016 and 2018 from flooding, I didn’t see much damage in the historic center.

My recipe for Ellicott City is the same as for all American cities. It’s a beautiful historic town, but it lacks a pedestrianized center that could serve as a symbol of the city to attract even more tourists.

In case you haven’t gotten the memo yet, younger generations are giving up buying houses, owning cars or living far from city centers. People now want to walk and bike to work, they want cafes nearby and they want good public transportation. In order for Ellicott City to attract this type of crowd, it needs to do more to make the city more pedestrian friendly.

It could start by turning at least a part of Main Street into a pedestrian only zone. Eventually it would be nice to see a tram return to the street, the same way a streetcar once served the area until the 1950’s.

Overall though, Ellicott City would be a perfect small town for someone to live in who doesn’t want to live exactly in the center of Baltimore, but still be located close enough to commute relatively easily to the city. In fact, a really good project the city could implement is a bike trail from Ellicott City directly to Baltimore. This would get a lot of people to come to the city and increase tourism.

Most tourists who visit Serbia visit Belgrade. Some make it up to Novi Sad, others stop by Nis on their way to Turkey and Greece. But few take the time to explore Serbia’s interior, where some of the country’s most beautiful cities are located.

Cacak is one of those cities in Serbia’s interior. Located just a two and a half hour drive from Belgrade, it is situated in the very center of Serbia, in the country’s Sumadija region.

The cities in Sumadija are the most ‘Serbian’ of Serbia’s cities. When this small Balkan nation gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1831, it was cities in Sumadija that formed the heart of the Serbian state. These included towns like Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Uzice, Cacak, Valjevo, Arandjevolac and more.

We visited Cacak in early August. With a population of 73,331, it may be small by world standards, but by Balkan standards it is the 8th largest city in Serbia.

It was a hot summer day when we arrived. We stayed in Hotel Beograd, the oldest hotel in Cacak and one of the oldest in Serbia.

The hotel was built in 1898-1899 and opened on New Year’s Day in 1900. It is located directly on the city’s main pedestrian street, where there are a lot of historical buildings.

Cacak’s pedestrian street is literally called ‘Gradsko Setaliste’, which translates as ‘the city’s walking area’. The street is a smaller version of Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade with lots of cafes and restaurants.

Other small cities in Serbia and the Balkans should learn from Cacak’s pedestrian street. Last summer I visited Uzice, a similarly sized city near Cacak, but which had no central pedestrian street. As a result, Uzice seemed to lack a center, whereas in Cacak the center was vibrant and alive.

A stray dog, hiding from the sun.

It was very promising to see lots of people cycling in the city. Biking infrastructure is massively underdeveloped in the Balkans. Most cities have no bike lanes. Those that do consider bike lanes to simply involve painting a white line on a sidewalk and calling it a bike lane. Cacak also didn’t have bike lanes, but there were plenty of people riding bikes, which gives me hope things will change in the future.

Cacak also had narrow side streets typical of older cities in southern Europe.

A typical old building Cacak’s center.

A monument to Vojvoda Stepa, a famous Serbian army commander who fought in Serbia’s wars of independence against the Turks in the 1870’s, the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885, the First and Second Balkan Wars in 1912-1913 and World War I. He served as Serbia’s Minister of War from 1908-1920, and died in Cacak on April 29, 1929.

A post office box from 1863 still stands on one of the buildings.

More cyclists in the center. It’s great to see cycling becoming more and more popular in Eastern Europe.

Another historic building on Cacak’s pedestrian street.

While it seemed like the city mostly respected its historic architecture, there was one building that looked like it was being torn down to be replaced with something modern, which is unfortunate.

Small cities like Cacak need to be extra careful in preserving the old historic buildings they have left. Otherwise developers will tear down everything that makes these cities unique.

At times you feel like you could be in any other city in Germany or France walking through Cacak.

One drawback is the massive advertising and lack of a design code in the center. The glass building on the far left may have once been an old building that was modernized, and now there is shameless promoting of Serbia’s Prime Minister Alexander Vucic on the facade.

Cacak also pedestrianized areas of its center where the buildings were not as old.

These streets offered a balanced mix of old and new.

A pedestrianized square in the center.

Hong Kong Chopping Center on the left. I couldn’t figure out when this building was built, but I wish it hadn’t been, since it completely blocks the view of the other older buildings.

Another old building.

Bikes seemed to cover up every spare pole or fence where people could lock their bikes to.

A traditional Serbian Guslar player.

Walking toward Cacak’s central square.

Cacak’s central square is similar to many other central squares in the Balkans designed by Yugoslav communists. After WWII Yugoslav communists wanted to showcase socialist architecture and would typically design a central square in the center of every city in Yugoslavia with a building built in the new socialist style.

What did building these kind of squares entail? Usually it meant razing historical sections in the center of cities to the ground and building concrete eyesores to replace them. Cacak did not escape this fate.

Today Cacak’s center is dominated by the Culture House, an eyesore in the very center of town that stands out of place to all of the old architecture. Similar to Hotel Zlatibor in Uzice, Cacak’s central square now has too much concrete and not enough trees.

Contrast the communist building to those on the other side of the square. These are the historic buildings the city needs to preserve and promote.

A nice fountain in front of the building built by the communists.

Another bike rack in the city’s center. The sign says “ride a bike, live healthy and well.”

Even older folks were out on the street riding their bikes.

Walking down Zupana Stracimira street.

This street also had a lot of historic buildings and is a candidate for further pedestrianization.

The area around the cities parliament building is almost spotless with beautiful flowers, benches and trees planted.

One of the oldest churches in Cacak. It was originally built in ______ but in _______ additional sections to the church were added. When we went inside the interior was completely modern without any frescoes. Unfortunately it looks as if the frescoes were lost over the centuries.

A look down the street away from the church.

Cacak’s ___________ building.

Cacak’s _________________ building.

 

The old architecture of Cacak. It’s interesting to see this old European style architecture in a central Serbian city like Cacak. These buildings were built in the 19^th century when Serbia was still nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, but de-facto an independent state. They testify toward the European outlook the population and rulers had at that time, despite centuries of Ottoman rule.

More old buildings.

Despite the European buildings, there were traces of Ottoman heritage throughout the town. One is the Cacak National Museum, which is a house built in the traditional Turkish style.

Across the museum is the city’s __________ church, one of the oldest in the city.

Inside the museum there was a new exhibition on display of student’s from the local high school showcasing their modern art projects.

The national museum was originally a ______ built in the ____________. There is not much Ottoman era architecture left in the city, despite Cacak and Serbia being under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.

One of the oldest painted markings of the Serbian emblem with three ‘S’ written in the Cyrillic alphabet is on the building of the museum.

Some old engraved stones in front of the museum.

Inside the museum you had old pictures of Cacak. Here is Cacak at the start of the 19^th century where the church stands today.

A handrail made of old carved stone.

The ceilings, walls and floors of the rooms were made from wood that was over a century old. The rooms were small, but left in exactly the same state that they were in 200 years ago when people lived in the building.

An old picture of the church in Cacak.

Old weaponry and swords of Slavs who settled this area of the Balkans in the 6^th century.

Uniforms of the Serbian army in the early 20^th century.

More old photos of Cacak.

Another old photo of Cacak and the church.

Outside of the museum, looking away from the building.

Outside the museum.

Buildings outside the church in Cacak.

Inside the church.

Where the candles are lit for loved and deceased ones.

The entrance into the church.

Candles for deceased ones.

Looking away from the candles toward the church grounds.

“A prayer for deceased ones”

A short walk away from the city center toward the Ibar River you begin to see residential homes where people live in Cacak. These homes are beautiful one or two story homes that are well-maintained, with nice gardens, rooftops and lawns. You don’t get any sense of this area being a poor area of Europe or Serbia. It’s a shame because salaries really are low in the Serbia, but despite this, people live lives that are in many ways much richer and rewarding than in the United States.

It’s nice to see these homes still standing. In many parts of the United States, Russia or Europe, cities are tearing down these homes to build ugly, modern apartment blocks that ruin the skyline of cities and are out of place compared to the rest of the architecture of the city. In Cacak at first glance it looks like the city is keeping track of its history and heritage and preserving its historical buildings.

More examples of Cacak homes.

The Ibar River is a short fifteen minute walk from the city center. It passes through an area with lots of trees and greenery.

Serbia and Balkan countries are sports super houses, churning out basketball, football, tennis, volleyball and water polo players that are at the top of their leagues around the world. Many people wonder why. A major reason is that during socialist Yugoslav times, the authorities built tons of outdoor volleyball, basketball football and tennis courts and sports centers that anybody could access free of charge. This infrastructure remains to this day, and is still in use, despite sometimes being in poor conditions. When people grow up in small Balkan cities like Cacak, they grow up surrounded by kids who spend their time outside playing different sports. Nobody has to pay to use the football field or basketball court, and therefore kids and teenagers play sports growing up instead of videogames or drinking or doing drugs. When college comes, they often get scholarships and head out west to universities in the United States or Europe to play sports. The big ones make it and go on to be the stars we know them to be today. But often times their stories all begin with that local basketball court in their neighborhood in their small city in Serbia where they played every day growing up.

A bike path near the river.

Around the river.

Cacak’s soccer stadium.

The bike path winding between the trees and through the woods around the Ibar River.

An area to play beach volleyball.

The Ibar River with a nice café set up nearby.

Some locals sunbathing by the river.

I love Cacak.

Sitting by the Ibar River.

In the evening the center of Cacak fills up with parents and their kids walking around. Cacak does not have a university, so there are few students between the ages of 18-22 in the city. They often go off to study in Belgrade or other closer universities in Nis or Kragujevac. As a result, most of the people in Cacak are families with their kids or grandparents.

Cacak’s pedestrian street in the evening.

A really beautiful old building.

The center of Cacak in the evening.

Cacak shops.

The cafes in the center fill up in the evening with people drinking coffee, ordering food and performing the standard Balkan ritual of chatting with friends in cafes for hours and hours. Here the city feels alive, vibrant and exciting. Compare what an evening looks like in a typical small city in the United States where the centers, if they even have any, are dead quiet with only cars driving by, with an evening in a city like this.

It helps that the food in Cacak is some of the best you can find in the Balkans. Cheap, delicious, enormous servings of mouth-watering cuts of meat, straight off the grill, with fresh locally grown vegetables and good wine. The Balkans have some of the best food in Europe, and Cacak is no exception.

Cacak is one of Serbia’s most beautiful cities. While most people who visit Serbia focus on Belgrade and the north in Vojvodina, the heart and real beauty of Serbia lies south. Here in Serbia’s interior you can find cities woven in between mountains that were some of the first cities to be built in Serbia in the 19^th century when the country first gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. That same character and liveliness which made Serbs fight to free this land and take control of these cities in the 19^th century persists to this day. It is from the

 

 

Belgrade lies at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava.

And on a little stretch of the Sava, there is a picturesque city beach where Belgraders spend their summers relaxing in the sun, playing sports and tanning.

The park is Ada Ciganlija. It can rightfully be dubbed the Belgrade Sea.

While it is hard to compete with the beauties of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin coastlines, in terms of city beaches there are few that come close to Ada Ciganlija.

During the summer months the park fills up with people from Belgrade who want to go to the beach, but don’t feel like heading all the way down to Greece, Croatia or Montenegro to get a tan.

The area has a long history to it. The name Ada Ciganlija was first mentioned in 1809 in an order signed by the Serbian leader Karadjordje who gave the land as a gift to Mladen Milovanoc, the chairman of the Serbian Council at the time. After the Turks regained control of Belgrade in 1813 they destroyed all records of land ownership and Ada Ciganlija fell out of private hands. In 1821 the Serbian King Milos Obrenovic declared the area to belong to the people and it has remained public property since.

Nowadays Ada Ciganlija is the center of Belgrade’s sports life. All around the park you can see people biking, swimming, running and, apparently on occasion, participating in competitions to win protein powder.

Of course the main attraction of Ada Ciganlija is the beach, which gets packed on the weekends.

The city uses small stones and pebbles for the beach instead of sand, which leaves the area much cleaner.

Ada Ciganlija’s other main attraction are its cafes. They line the entire beach and offer delicious food and refreshing drinks.

Baby strollers and bikes are equally welcome.

Other cafes that are not located directly on the beach still offer places to tan and soak in the sun.

A beach bar. I’m hoping it has a little more people on other days.

The water is also very clear, a rarity for urban beaches. Water from the Sava River is constantly flowing through Ada Ciganlija, which keeps it clean.

Ada Ciganlija remained in a disastrous state for most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. It was only in 1950 when Belgrade approved a new urban plan for the city that Ada Ciganlija was turned into a recreation, swimming and sports center on the banks of the Sava River.

Besides the beach and cafes, the food here is amazing. Freshly grilled burgers and chicken and meat all for reasonable prices.

“Diving and swimming is prohibited!”

Kids having fun with the water slide.

A range of more extreme sports are also offered, including bungee jumping off that crane.

A water park on the lake.

Cycling is a popular activity.

The playgrounds in the grass remained understandably empty, given the nearby beach.

The cafes and beach bars.

The tall trees offered much needed shade from the hot sun.

A warning to all vegans that head to Serbia, beware of the food. You won’t find vegetables here.

Soaking in the sun.

For those that don’t feel like walking, there is a small passenger train that rides up and down the lake every half hour.

An adventure park nearby allowing you to swing from tree to tree Tarzan style.

Up until 1967 Ada Ciganlija was simply an island in the Sava River. But then the city decided to connect the right bank of the island to the shore. After that Ada Ciganlija was turned into a peninsula.

Two dams were then later built at the southern and northern tips of the island to turn the park into a lake and form Ada Ciganlija’s present-day shape.

Ada Ciganlija stretches out for 4.2 kilometers and the water has an average depth of 4-6 meters.

More cafes.

There are a lot of trees nearby. Several protected species of birds and animals live in this habitat.

Hiding from the sun.

The beach is often crowded at the entrance, but people taper off as you walk further down the shoreline.

To get away from the crowds I suggest heading toward the other end of the island.

A volleyball tournament was taking place when I was there.

The smell of fresh meat on the grill surrounds you at every restaurant.

Delicious Turkish style coffee.

Who could not love this?

Behold Serbian food. Mixed pieces of grilled meat, including chicken, pork and sausages. Fries. And fresh fruits and vegetables on the side. All for under $10.

There is a dedicated bike lane that circles the beach a little further out from the lake. So you can bike freely without worrying about the crowds.

As evening fell, the beach emptied out.

Walking back toward the entrance.

On the other side of the lake is the Belgrade district ‘Banovo Brdo’.

A final look at Ada Ciganlija before heading home.

If you are just in Belgrade for a weekend, then you can feel safe to skip over Ada Ciganlija, since there are more than enough things in the center to do to take up your time.

But if you are staying in Belgrade for longer, then a trip to Ada Ciganlija’s beach is a worthwhile endeavor. You can easily spend a whole day here soaking in the sun, enjoying good food and going for a swim. In the evening many of the cafes turn into clubs and bars.

If you like to cycle, then I highly recommend renting out some bikes in the center of Belgrade and then riding them to Ada Ciganlija. There is a dedicated bike path that follows the Sava River and goes directly to Ada Ciganlija. This is the best way to get to the island.

Overall, Ada Ciganlija is a good example of what cities located on rivers can do with their shorelines to create a vibrant urban space that promotes healthy lifestyles through sport and recreation.

A major problem with living in a city is finding ways to get outdoors, go to the beach and go for a swim. Cities can solve this issue by building public beaches on their riversides.

Sure, it may be hard for Ada Ciganlija to compete with the beauties of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin coasts.

But given the fact that those coasts are a ten hour journey away, you have to ask yourself…why spend all your money and time to go Montenegro or Greece or Croatia, when you got all the sea you need right in the center of Belgrade?

 

 

 

Living in the city often means living without trees.

It’s the unfortunate and inevitable result of urbanization and development.

Trees get chopped to build buildings. Trees get chopped to expand roads. Trees get chopped because they get too old. In any city in any country, trees get chopped.

The net effect is that people get stuck living in cities with little greenery or nature.

But there is a city hidden up in the north of Serbia right on the border with Hungary where this process of chopping down trees seems miraculously to have been skipped over.

The city is called Subotica. And despite being Serbia’s fifth largest city and at one time the third largest city in the former Yugoslavia, few people visit or have heard of it.

It’s a shame. Because not only does the city have stunning architecture, it has greenery that the most advanced capitals of Europe could only hope to dream of.

Forget London. Forget Paris. Forget all those German cities that focus on sustainable development.

They have nothing on Subotica.

If ever there was a city that demonstrated the need for cities to preserve their greenery and plant trees wherever possible, then Subotica is it.

These photos were taken in late April 2018. Spring was in full swing in the Balkans, and the trees had already turned a lush green color. A beautifully renovated building welcomes you at the start of Subotica’s central pedestrian street.

On the other side of the street there is a small little park called Rajhl Ferenca.

In most cities, just some green grass and benches would be enough to declare it a park. Here you get century-old trees hovering over you.

Subotica had no shortage of beautiful architecture too.

But the greedy trees were in the way and made it impossible to take a photo.

Many cities would have torn down all these trees long ago. In Subotica they stand tall and proud, forming an integral part of the city.

Subotica’s main pedestrian street is called Korzo and is filled with 19th century neo-classical architecture.

The city had its fair share of cyclists, though not as much as its Hungarian neighbor Szeged across the border. Part of the reason is the infrastructure was a lot worse. Szeged had dedicated bike lanes throughout most of the city, Subotica did not. Hopefully this will change soon and Subotica can follow in the footsteps of Szeged.

The center is filled with narrow side streets where cars are prohibited.

One of the best burgers I have ever had was at Fabrika Burger Bar in Subotica. Highly recommended.

More trees in the center.

Subotica has a population of 97,910 according to the last Serbian census in 2011, making it the fifth largest city in Serbia. If you add in the adjacent urban settlement Palic, the population gets pushed up to 105,681. At one time however, Subotica was the third largest city in the former Yugoslavia shortly after WWI ended in 1918. The Serbian army occupied large parts of southern Hungary after the war which were populated by Serbs and South Slavs, an area now known as Vojvodina.

Initially Serbia wanted to claim not just Subotica, but push the Yugoslav border further north and incorporate the cities of Timisoara and Arad in today’s Romania and the Hungarian cities of Pecs, Baja and Szeged. But the great powers decided this was too much at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and limited Serbian claims to Subotica.

Although South Slavs formed a majority of the population in large parts of southern Hungary, the area was ethnically mixed, with large Hungarian, German and Romanian minorities, along with smaller pockets of Slovaks, Rusyns and Ukrainains. This multi-ethnic nature of Vojvodina remains to this day. Hungarians, in fact, are the biggest ethnic group in Subotica making up 33% of the population, followed by Serbs at 30% and Croats at 9%.

Restaurants with beautiful patios were sprinkled throughout the city.

A tribute to the saxaphone.

I can only imagine how nice this place must be in the evening when the tables fill up with people.

Looking back out onto the street.

A pizzeria in an old renovated building.

When the Ottoman Empire conquered Hungary, Subotica remained under the Turks for almost 150 years from 1542-1686. After the majority of the local population fled, the Ottomans settled the area largely with Orthodox Serbs who lived deeper south in the empire. The city was reconquered by the Habsburgs in 1687 and in subsequent centuries the Habsburgs would often encourage local Christian populations to rise up in Serbia which remained under the Ottomans. When these rebellions were suppressed, Christian Serbs would flee north to Hungary to seek refuge. In this way, as the centuries past, the southern part of Hungary came to dominated by Serbs.

Subotica developed rapidly in the 19th century under Habsburg rule. The 1848-1849 revolutions that rocked the empire affected Subotica as well, with Serb leaders claiming the city to be included in their Serbian Vojvodship. After Russian and Habsburg troops quashed the rebellion, the city was included in a newly formed province of the empire called the Voivedeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. The capital was the city of Timisoara and the province existed from 1849-1860. It was during this time that Subotica got its impressive theatre in 1853, which was barbarically destroyed by local authorities in 2007. More on that later.

Today the city has a distinct Austro-Hungarian feel to it.

There are, however, places where the Ottoman legacy can be felt, particularly with some courtyard balconies that resemble Turkish buildings.

Subotica was connected by railway in 1869 and received its first tram system in 1897. At the close of the 19th century, the town reached its peak of cultural development. The majority of Subotica’s neo-classical buildings were constructed during this time.

Subotica remained part of Austro-Hungary until the end of WWI when the country was defeated by allied armies. Serbian and French troops entered Subotica on November 13, 1918. Shortly after on November 25, a national assembly in Novi Sad declared the unification of Backa, Banat and Baranja with Serbia. Eventually the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia. In WWII Hungary joined the Axis and retook the city on April 12, 1941. Serbs and Jews were expelled from the city during the war and when Yugoslav and Soviet troops liberated the city on October 10, 1944 the opposite happened to Hungarians and Germans.

Luckily most of Subotica’s buildings survived WWII in tact and today the city’s pedestrianized center makes it possible to easily enjoy them. But there are a few more streets the city could pedestrianize, such as Vladimir Nazora Street.

As things currently stand, the street is essentially a parking area for people who want to visit the center. Imagine how much nicer Vladimir Nazor street would look if it were closed off to traffic.

The street contains a series of buildings that are some of the oldest and most beautiful in the city. Observe the details above the windows.

A picturesque balcony with a small chair and table outside. This is how balconies are supposed to look, not like what often happens in Russia and Ukraine where they are covered with plastic windows.

Restaurants on Vladimir Nazor street would be first to benefit from its pedestrianization. There is outdoor seating for only a few tables right now.

Pedestrians walking by are forced to pass through the restaurant to get to the other side. Cyclists can forget about comfortably riding through the area.

Instead parked cars take up the majority of the urban space.

More streets in Subotica’s center which could be pedestrianized.

Subotica could also improve the look of its center by banning massive advertisements on old buildings. Take a look at how much space the VIP shop sign covers up of the building’s historical facade.

Some trees didn’t manage to bloom this Spring.

Further down Korzo street you eventually hit Subotica’s main square.

Another beautiful courtyard.

Subotica City Hall, one of the city’s most impressive works of architecture. At 76 meters high, it towers over the other buildings in the city. It was built from 1908-1912 by the Budapest-based architects Komor and Jakob in the Art-Nouveau style. Today it is used for city assemblies, weddings and concerts. There is an observatory deck 45 meters high which offers a nice panorama of the city.

In the middle of the square is a monument dedicated to Czar Jovan Nenad, who made Subotica his capital in 1527.

Subotica’s National Theatre is also located on the square. There is a tragic story behind this building. While it may look impressive, do not be fooled. It is a cheap imitation of the original theatre that used to stand here, a theatre that was one of Subotica’s oldest and most famous buildings.

The original national theatre was built in 1854. It was one of the first major public buildings to be constructed in the city. It was Subotica’s central symbol, it could be found on any postcard of the city for over a century. But despite its inclusion as a historic monument under state protection since 1983, local city officials made a barbaric and unforgivable decision to tear the building down in 2007.

Protests from international organizations and strong criticism from neighboring Hungary which said that the destruction of the national theatre was a crime failed to save the building.

Here is how the national theatre used to look before its destruction.

And here is how the theatre looks today.

Instead of a historic building that stands in harmony with the surrounding architecture, you get a rectangle box on Subotica’s main square, the most important area of the city.

The modern rectangular shape looks completely out of place when contrasted to the old buildings behind it.

Did the city really have to destroy the its 150-year old theatre to build a piece of garbage like this?

A bland glass facade completely out of harmony with the surrounding infrastructure.

The story of Subotica’s National Theatre is a tragic story of barbarism and incompontence. In 2007 the city’s national theatre was in a catastrophic state. It had gone decades without being renovated. Inside the theatre the main stage and seats were falling apart. Delegates at Subotica’s city assembly approved a plan to tear the building down and build a modern building to replace it. It’s important to note that the ruling party in power when this decision was taken was the SVM (Savez Vojvodjanskih Madjara) or ‘Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians’.

Locals were massively against tearing down the building. A petition signed by thousands of Subotica’s citizens was declared invalid by Subotica’s politicians. Neighboring Hungary took a deep interest in the planned destruction of the building, since Subotica was a city with a majority Hungarian population and the theatre had been built when the city was part of Hungary. Politicians in Hungary declared the destruction of the theatre to be a crime and appealed to international organizations to save the building.

In 2007 the bulldozers came and tore it down. Citizens in the city were promised that the new building would include elements of the old building’s structure while incorporating a new modern look. People were promised that construction would end in just five years, but the construction did not begin until 2014. For seven years the main square in Subotica was a construction site.

As of 2018 the new theatre is almost finished, but judging by the comments left by people online who live in Subotica, they categorically hate the building.

Here are some of them translated below:

“It is impossible to assess the damage caused by this demolition. How many people have passed through our city and seen this disgrace? How many people then decided to never return to our city afterward? I signed the petition against the destruction, but I somehow still had hope that if they did destroy it, they would not be so crazy as to never finish it. Now I know that we are not only crazy, but stupid. How could we succeed in destroying a symbol of the city without any plan for what to do after? We truly are idiots.” 

“It would have been much better if they had left the theatre the way it was. They promised us everything, they convinced people that it was necessary to carry this out. But it turns out that this is a perfect example and symbol of how scums are destroying the whole country.” 

“The city mayor at the time and his deputies (the cultural deputies Ljub-Kis-Zivka) are going to be remembered as the biggest enemies of this city. To destroy the symbol of our city, a landmark like that, has no justification. The theatre could have easily been renovated, and not torn down.” 

“The University of Belgrade uses Subotica as an example of how not to manage your cultural heritage. Since books about protecting cities are rarely updated, we have earned oursevles a century-long disgrace and shame.” 

“What kind of words can be used for those who made that disgraceful decision to tear down the theatre? Are those sick minds? The city of Subotica has been destroyed in these 15 years more than it ever was during the war.”

“Only in Serbia can you destroy buildings that are of cultural importance. In Sweden you cannot even change a door on a building without getting approval first.” 

“That’s what you deserve when you [citizens] are sheep. Go out next time and vote, before they destroy your whole city, while you just peacefully look on.” 

“Let you never forget this! What you politicians did, in the eyes of the city, Kasa, Kucera, Vucinic and the rest of you. You destroyed the symbol of everything that was ever worth anything in Subotica!”  

I can only hope that this is the end of such barbaric destruction and that the city will learn to respect its historic architecture in the future. R.I.P. Subotica’s National Theatre.

Thankfully, it is not all sad news in Subotica. The trees, which give the city its distinct character, have so far been spared destruction.

Hopefully the city never decides to tear them down. They make even a bland parking lot in the center look vibrant and alive.

Of course, it would probably be better to close this area off for cars as well. I recognize this cannot be done for the whole city, but you can do it for most of the city’s historic core.

Getting rid of the cars opens up the center for areas like this.

It’s hard to imagine that at one point this pedestrianized zone was open to traffic.

Subotica’s main square is an oasis of greenery dominated by cafes, tall leafy trees, green grass and a blue fountain in the very center.

A scaled-down model of the city’s historic core.

Some might complain that having so many trees on the city’s main square makes it impossible to take a good photo of any of the buildings. I think it makes the area look even better, distinguishing it from other similar squares in Europe.

In the center of the city is Subotica’s Blue Fountain (that’s literally the name). It’s a nice area to sit on a bench and read a book while listening to the sound of running water.

The main building on the main square is Subotica’s Town Hall which towers over the rest of the city.

You know that cycling is a popular means of transport in a city when you get elderly folks riding around on two wheels.

In some places the city has simply been taken over by greenery, with Subotica’s buildings barely visible through all the bushes and grass and trees and leaves.

A monument to the Holy Trinity, located on the main square.

More old buildings.

More trees.

This is what cities should aspire to look like.

Just like in the rest of the Balkans, cafe culture is alive and well in Subotica. Throughout the entire day the cafes are filled with locals drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, chatting with friends and reading the newspaper.

In areas of the center where there are still cars, the streets have been narrowed to only one lane with a low speed limit.

Wide sidewalks make the city accessible for the least mobile of residents.

A small chapel further away from the main square.

Almost all of Subotica’s center is dominated by historic two-story buildings. The city has yet to be ruined by developers.

Hopefully the city will continue to pedestrianize more and more streets like these and promote walking and cycling and public transportation over driving.

One important sight to see in Subotica is the city’s synagogue. I would have never guessed that the second largest synagogue in all of Europe can be found in this small Serbian city of 100,000 people. Built in 1902 in the art nouveau style by the same Hungarian architects that constructed Subotica’s impressive town hall, the synagogue is the only surviving Hungarian art nouveau Jewish place of worship in the world. The building is a reflection of the dual Jewish-Hungarian nature of Subotica in the early 20th century, a city that was the tenth largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a major economic center. Miraculously the synagogue survived WWII in tact, unlike most Jewish heritage which was wiped out on the continent.

More trees.

I really hope nobody ever decides to cut them down. Subotica would not be the same without them.

How many other cities are there that can boast of such a balanced blend of outdoor greenery and historic architecture?

A beautiful balcony above a restaurant in the center.

How can you not love a city like this?

I will admit, before I visited Subotica I did not truly appreciate the importance of trees in cities.

In fact, I even sometimes advocated to chop them down. As an avid biker, I value cities that have dedicated bike lanes. When an old tree planted over 100 years ago takes up a significant portion of the sidewalk, and narrowing the street where cars drive is not an option, the logical solution for me was to cut down the tree.

Now I realize how wrong I was. Now I realize that trees are an integral part of a city.

They breathe life into the urban landscape. They make it more comfortable to walk down the street. The air is fresher. The air is cooler. They make a city more vibrant, closer to nature.

My original plan was to get from Budapest to Belgrade as fast as possible. I ended up in Subotica by accident.

But how happy I am that I set aside a few hours to visit this city.

It’s a shame that Belgrade and Budapest swallow up all the tourists visiting this corner of Europe. Because its cities like Subotica that lose out. Everyone just wants to go to the most popular destinations in guidebooks. Nobody wants to go off the beaten track. I can’t imagine what other gems lie hidden in the fields of southern Hungary and northern Serbia.

So if you ever find yourself in this corner of Europe, do yourself a favor and stop by a smaller city like Subotica. You will be glad that you did. It is a city that offers a perfect blend of outdoor greenery and historic architecture. The locals are friendly, the food is good, and the buildings are beautiful. And it hasn’t yet been discovered by tourists. Stop by before it becomes too popular.

 

Meet the Khrushchyovka.

This building has been condemned to death by the Moscow government.

According to a controversial renovation law the city passed in 2017, up to 1 million people in the Russian capital are going to be relocated from these buildings over the next several years.

Sounds pretty good right?

Who could oppose giving hardworking citizens living in derelict apartments brand new homes?

The truth is unfortunately much more sinister.

Because the khrushchovkas are located on some of the best land in the city.

They are the greenest neighborhoods of Moscow. They are where neighbors have lived side by side for decades. They form close communities with a strong sense of history and belonging.

What’s really happening is developers have run out of land to build on in the capital. Every month news comes out of another historic building being razed to the ground to be replaced with office space, shopping malls or elite apartments. The problem is not much space like this is left in Moscow.

In comes the renovation plan to save the day. Instead of carrying out normal renovations of khrushchyovkas and preserving the buildings as they are, the city will simply raze entire districts where these buildings are located to the ground.

The residents will be moved out to 20-story high-rises located nearby. In this way, the land the khrushchyovkas currently occupy will get freed up for developers.

The people who used to live in those khrushchevkas will then live in a construction site for years as they watch elite apartments get built on land they used to live on, while they are stuck living in a 20-story ghetto.

In the process, Moscow will lose some of its greenest and most beautiful districts.

Last month, I decided to visit one of these districts to take a look at just what exactly the Moscow government plans on destroying.

I couldn’t believe what I saw.

A neighborhood full of beautiful trees, parks, playgrounds and five-story buildings was going to disappear forever.

The neighborhood in question is about a 5 minute walk away from the Shcholkovskaya metro station, the last stop on the blue line in the northeast of Moscow.

Virtually every single building you see in these photos is going to be destroyed in the next few years. Construction is set to kick off this summer. The city has already begun moving people out of their homes.

Keep in mind, that this is just one small neighborhood in one district in the northeast of Moscow. This story is being repeated all over the rest of the city.

Schelkovskaya Metro

Welcome to Schelkovskaya metro station. At first glance, the area looks pretty bland. Just a huge highway overpass and traffic jams. Typical Moscow.

But head into the neighborhood where the Khrushchyovkas are located and things drastically change. Instead of cars and loud noise and pollution, you get trees and fresh air and silence.

Nearby is a local school with a basketball court for kids to play on.

The narrow road leading into the neighborhood is literally an oasis of greenery. Tall, beautiful trees surround you from all sides and every direction.

Residents here get all the benefits of living close to nature, while at the same being located just a five minute walk from a metro connecting them to the center of Moscow.

The majority of the khrushchyovkas in this neighborhood were built in the early 1960’s. That’s also when the majority of these trees were planted. So most of this neighborhood has stood unchanged like this for 60 years, and would likely stand for much longer had Moscow not condemned the district to death in 2017.

Here is Щёлковское шоссе, дом 50. Built in 1961, right at the entrance to the neighborhood. A typical example of a building that will be torn down.

Here is 9-я Парковая улица, дом 61, корпус 3. Built in 1961. It will also be demolished.

It’s not a secret that these buildings are in dire need of being renovated. Sometimes there are poor pipe, water and heating systems. Other times there are leaking roofs. Noise isolation between apartments remains weak. But that doesn’t entail destroying the whole building.

If the khrushchyovkas were renovated properly so that people had normal running water, roofs, walls and heating, these apartments could be some of the most expensive real estate in Moscow.

Where else can you find quiet, peaceful regions in a megalopolis like Moscow without the constant sound of cars driving by?

Where else can you walk out of your home into a de-facto forest and still live in a huge city like Moscow?

But instead of carrying out proper renovations and preserving these architectural landmarks of Soviet housing, Moscow would rather raze them to the ground, cut down all the trees, and build monotonous modern high-rises that can be found in any city around the world.

Balconies showcase the bad state the khrushchyovkas are in, or rather, the lack of balconies. In Russia it is popular to add glass windows to your balcony, essentially transforming it into another room in your house for storage. Usually people end up just keeping their junk there. Imagine how much nicer these balconies would look with flowers and decorations and outdoor seating instead of dilapidated windows.

Unlike districts in Moscow with tall buildings, there are no parking problems around khrushchyovkas. It’s pretty obvious why. A building with five times more floors than a khrushchyovka requires five times more parking space around it. That leaves little room for anything else other than a parking lot. Here on the other hand, there is enough space for trees and grass and parks instead.

The trees serve as a natural form of air conditioning during the summer and create shade for the building. The air was indeed several degrees cooler in the neighborhood when I was walking around compared to outside of it.

Besides the trees, there were tons of parks for kids to play in. Neighbors were walking their dogs, chatting with other neighbors. Older people were strolling around slowly and enjoying the Moscow summer. You had a real sense of community.

‘Happy Birthday’ on the sidewalk.

Kids enjoying the last days of Moscow summer.

The entrance to one of the khrushchyovkas. Notice how there are no cars parked on the sidewalks.

Instead cars are parked in designated parking spaces nearby in a civilized manner.

Unfortunately all this beautiful space did not stop the residents of 9-я Парковая улица, дом 57 from voting to be included in the renovation program.

Imagine walking out of your building with this nature greeting you every morning.

Or navigating between these trees each evening to get back home from work.

It’s not just people that enjoy walking along these paths.

All of this space where the cats walk and trees stand will soon be a construction site.

Goodbye улица Константина Федина, дом 12. Built in 1958.

How anyone could agree to destroy a beautiful brick building like this is beyond me.

Thankfully not everyone voted to be included in the renovation program. There are a few buildings where sense prevailed. As a result, homes 10, 8, 6 and 4 on улица Константина Федина will be preserved.

So for the time being, this beauty will remain.

Rarely do you get such good urban planning in Moscow’s new apartments. Old brick, low-rise buildings, tall leafy green trees, a quiet district close to the metro.

Incredible.

Apartments in this neighborhood would be some of the most expensive real estate in the city given a properly functioning market economy where the government can’t just barge in and steal your property under the guise of a renovation program.

On the other side of the street, the residents voted to be included in the program. Goodbye Улица Константина Федина, дом 5.

Goodbye улица Константина Федина, дом 7.

R.I.P. улица Константина Федина, дом 3.

At a time when Europe is constructing low-rise buildings between five to ten floors each, Moscow is tearing them down. All in the interests of developers whose only goal is to make money and who could care less about Moscow’s history.

What a joy it is to walk down a tree-lined street like this.

A monument located near the khrushchyovkas.

Улица Константина Федина, дом 8 voted against the renovation program. It was built in 1958.

The balconies to the buildings.

A beautiful walkway through the woods.

Another school in the district with its own basketball court and workout area.

Comfortable benches to sit on with friends.

The entrance to 7-я Парковая улица, дом 33, корпус 2. It will also be demolished.

Playgrounds for kids.

Plenty of room to park your car.

Natural shading on your house.

Green grass around the building.

More parking spots.

Another beautiful walkway.

And another.

R.I.P. 7-я Парковая улица, дом 31

Even khrushchyovkas which look like they were recently renovated will be demolished.

R.I.P. 5-я Парковая улица, дом 56, корпус 6

Where is all this green space going to be in the new buildings that are constructed?

You may be wondering why people would vote in favor of the renovation program when they have such green space around their homes. The unfortunate truth is that there is a lot of support for the program among residents.

Putting aside the propaganda they are fed about it on a weekly basis on television, the main reason people support the program is because of the terrible state of their apartments on the inside. Many people who live here are poor and can’t afford to pay for a renovation themselves. They have been living in such conditions for years, if not decades.

The residents who support the program view it as a means of improving their livelihood without having to pay for it themselves. At the end of the day, they will get to move into a brand new apartment, slightly bigger than the current apartment they live in, without paying a dime. The fact they may be moved to a building slightly further from the metro, or in a neighborhood not as nice as their current one matters little to them. They are more concerned with improving the living conditions within their apartment.

Unfortunately, the sense of comfort in Russia often does not expand beyond the borders of one’s own home.

It’s the only way to explain why people would massively vote to destroy an entire district filled with historic buildings and beautiful greenery all for the sake of receiving a few extra square meters of floor space in their apartment.

What will happen to the cats once construction begins is a mystery.

Who then opposes the renovation program?

The people against the program tend to be newcomers. They are people who took out a mortgage and bought a home specifically because they wanted to live in a khrushchyovka. More often than not, they spent money to renovate the apartment before moving in.

You end up with an absurd situation where long-term residents who favor the program are pitted against newcomers. These newcomers are told that despite spending their own money to renovate the flat themselves, they now have to give up all that for an apartment provided by the government.

And it’s not just newcomers who oppose the program. Long-term residents who took it on their own initiative to improve their livelihood and renovate their flat are being punished, while people who did nothing to improve their flats for years are going to receive free new apartments. All at the expense of Russian taxpayers.

The government-sponsored renovation program turns the normal process of gentrification upside down. In a normally functioning housing market, young families would naturally want to buy apartments in these khrushchevkas because they would represent good investment opportunities in the future.

You buy an apartment now for cheap, older poorer residents who are your neighbors eventually die off. Their kids inherent apartments and sell them. Younger, affluent families with money move in. Overtime the neighborhood gets gentrified and becomes a very attractive area to live in.

As more and more people move in and begin buying apartments, the value of the property goes up. The social stigma of khrushchyovkas being a shameful place to live by other Russians slowly disappears as people realize the advantages of living in smaller buildings with lots of trees instead of high-rises.

This is the way formerly dangerous inner city ghettos across the United States have been gentrified in the past ten years. In the 1990’s, neighborhoods like Brooklyn were dangerous ghettos with lots of crime. Now they are the most prosperous areas of New York.

Unfortunately because of the renovation program, nobody is going to want to take out a loan and buy an apartment in a khrushchyovka anymore knowing that at any point in the future the government could include the building in a renovation program and the apartment you spent your own money to buy will be taken away from you.

The prices for these apartments have utterly plummeted in the last year as a result.

Goodbye 3-я Парковая улица, дом 46.

Another cat roaming around.

More parking space.

Some of the khruchschyokvas are barely visible from all the trees.

Kids playing outside around their homes.

Another playground.

Goodbye 3-я Парковая улица, дом 50

This is the area outside of that building the government claims needs to be renovated.

Warning, soon this playground will no longer exist.

Just look at all this greenery.

Goodbye 3-я Парковая улица, дом 54

An old chimney from a factory no longer in use.

Kids playing soccer.

Another beautiful pathway between buildings.

Now you may be wondering where are all these people going to be moved to? Here is your answer.

Welcome to the Moscow of the future.

Located at the address Северное Измайлово, ул. 5-я Парковая, д. 62, корп.1, корп.2, this is one of the first buildings where residents of the khrushchyovkas are going to be moved to under the renovation program.

It’s a pretty simple plan.

Why have 10 khrushchevkas, each five stories high, spread out over a huge territory with trees and parks and playgrounds, when you can take those same 10 khrushchevkas and stuff them into one building that occupies a fraction of the space.

Now think of all that land that those empty khrushchyovkas occupy near metro stations that will be cleared and freed up for greedy developers to build their elite apartments and glass office buildings on.

Say goodbye to everything that made Moscow unique as it is transformed into just another bland city with no history.

Remember all that free parking space next to the khrushchevkas? I hope the people who voted in favor of the renovation program enjoy their eternal struggle to find parking now.

Instead of solid, strong bricks, you get side paneling made of the cheapest metal.

Somehow this is supposed to be better quality than brick.

Remember all those trees around the khrushchyovkas, where are they now?

Here is the khrushchyovka right across the street from the new building. Which one would you rather live in?

I admit, the balcony is bad, but at least you have one in a khrushchyovka. You don’t have any in the new building.

Goodbye 9-я Парковая улица, дом 57. This greenery will forever be lost.

Conveniently, all of the khrushchyovkas located right next to the metro station voted in favor of the renovation program and to be moved to that tall building located a 15 minute walk away.

So in the future, instead of owning an apartment located a 1 minute walk from the metro, people will now own an apartment located a 15 minute walk away. Smart investment decision.

9-я Парковая улица, дом 61 also located right next to the metro station and also voted for the renovation program. How convenient for developers.

9-я Парковая улица, дом 66, корпус 1. Located on the other side of the street. Built in 1962. A two minute walk from the metro. Also voted for the renovation program.

You may be wondering how it is possible for people to vote in favor of the renovation program when it is clearly not in their own financial or material interest.

It’s because the voting process to take part in the program is rigged.

In order for a building to be included in the renovation program, two thirds of a building’s residents must vote in favor of it.

The problem is that not everybody votes.

To solve this issue, the renovation program arbitrarily decides to assign the exact same voting results among those who voted with those that didn’t vote.

Let’s say a building has 148 apartments, of which 86 apartments take part in voting for or against the renovation program. Out of the 86 apartments that voted, 58 apartments vote in favor (67%) and 28 apartments vote against (33%).

The renovation program would then assign that same 67% for and 33% against ratio to the 68 apartments that didn’t vote.

How does this make sense? When you elect a president, you don’t just assume that people who didn’t vote in the elections would vote the same way as those that did.

Perhaps people didn’t vote because they weren’t in the city at the time. Perhaps they weren’t aware that a vote was taking place. There are a host of factors that might influence people not to vote.

And yet, the renovation program just arbitrarily assumes that the people who didn’t vote would vote in the exact same percentages as those that did.

Those five story buildings around the metro will soon be replaced with buildings like this.

Compare the playground outside a khrushchyovka to the playground outside a high-rise apartment complex. Which do you prefer?

Compare the infrastructure outside this new building…

…to the atmosphere outside the khrushchyovka.

Contrast the khrushchyovka in the front with the building in the back.

Do people really prefer to live in these high-story ghettos?

Is Moscow really ready to lose this piece of its history?

Which building would you rather be living in when a fire breaks out? A 20-story furnace?

Remember those khrushchyovka balconies? Well, enjoy a life locked up inside in these new apartments, since their aren’t any balconies at all on Moscow’s new buildings.

Compare the trees and shade and nature here.

To the concrete jungle out here. Dominant high-rises with no surrounding infrastructure.

On the left, hidden behind the trees, is the khrushchyovka, what Moscow used to be and what the city will soon lose forever.

On the right is what Moscow’s future looks like.

Which building would you rather live in?

 

 

I love rap music. I love Slavic languages.

So for the past few months I’ve decided to combine the two and create mixes of Slavic rap music.

Here is my mix of of the best rap songs from Slavic-speaking countries for July 2018. I tried to go for a summer vibe this month.

There are some great rap artists out there in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, their reach doesn’t spread far beyond the borders of their own countries. Serbians know the best Serbian rappers. Russians know the best Russian rappers. Poles the best Polish rappers. But rarely have any of them heard of each other.

Hopefully these mixes will put an end to this oblivion.

A full mix of these songs can be viewed on YouTube here. Or you can listen to the mix on SoundCloud here.

1. (SLOVENIA) Nipke & Trkaj – Vsi Smo Na Istem 

I kicked off the mix with a banger from Slovenia. Nipke is a recent rapper I discovered from the Slovenian city of Dravlje. He has a smooth flow complimented by outstanding production. The music video is also good. The song was released in May 2017.

2. (POLAND) VNM – Zaglusz Mnie 

Probably my favorite Polish rapper from my favorite Polish rap label ProstoTV. All of the best Polish rappers seem to be coming from that label. They also create well-polished, professional music videos for their songs, although this song was simply from VNM’s album Klaud N9jn released in May 2015 without a video.

Polish seems to be the trickiest Slavic language for me to understand. I’ve spoken Serbian/Croatian since I was a kid and I learned Russian as an adult. All of the other Slavic languages I can comprehend a lot more compared to Polish. I wonder if it is the same for other Slavic speakers.

3. (RUSSIA) ATL – Туман  

ATL is an incredible force in the Russian rap world right now. His songs mix an ambient house music vibe with thoughtful, poetic rap lyrics. The song Туман is from his 2014 album Центр циклона. I will definitely be adding more of his songs to mixes in the future.

4. (UKRAINE) Аппекс & Crazy Lazy – Жамевю

I found out about the rapper Аппекс off of the amazing YouTube channel Слава Хип-Хопу! which posts the latest rap music from Ukraine in Ukrainian. Before I found the channel it was quite difficult to find rap songs in Ukrainian, they were all in Russian. But there seems to be a revival in the use of Ukrainian following the Maidan Revolution in 2014 and this channel does a good job of finding the latest rap in Ukrainian.

Аппекс and Crazy Lazy are both underground rappers without the following and fame they deserve compared to how good their flow is. The song Жамевю has a dark tone to it, but I thought it complimented the previous Russian song well. I also wanted to put the Ukrainian and Russian songs next to each other in the mix to make it easier to compare the two languages.

5. (SERBIA) Surreal – Na Minut Do Mora 

Surreal is a 28 year old rapper from Serbia who lived in the United States for a few years before returning to his home country. This song is from his newest album Sam U Kuci released in April 2018. The song in Serbian means ‘One Minute To The Sea’ and the trumpet sample gives the song that chill beach vibe perfect for the summer.

If you don’t speak Serbian, you may listen to this song and think that Serbian is completely different from other Slavic languages. But that is just because he is using a ton of slang in the song. I couldn’t even understand everything.

6. (CZECHIA) Rest – Vona 

I got introduced to the rapper Rest on the Slavorum forum, a go-to resource for all Slav related things. He is my favorite rapper from the Czech Republic at the moment. The song Vona is from his latest album Restart released in April 2018. He’s got a killer flow and raps in a very clear tone which makes it easy to listen to the Czech language and compare it to other Slavic languages.

As a Serbian speaker, Czech is much harder to understand than Slovak. The language seems to me be somewhat rougher and more harsh than Slovak, perhaps a consequence of being Germany’s neighbor? It would be interesting to find out whether Polish is closer to Czech or Slovak, since the three seems to be quite distance from each other.

7. (CROATIA) Stoka – Lijepe Zene  

Stoka is a hip-hop veteran from Croatia. He’s been around for over 20 years, kicking his career off with Croatian rap group Tram 11. He was leading the hip-hop revolution in Croatia in the days when Eminem and 50 Cent were dominating airwaves in the USA.

I picked one of his older songs for this mix, Lijepe Zene, which means ‘pretty women’ in Croatian. In the song he raps about all the pretty women walking around his hometown Zagreb and him spending his time all alone.

8. (MACEDONIA) Bobani NPC & TyTe – Колку Е Добро

A chill track from Macedonia. The song Колку Е Добро is a few years old. The music video was posted to YouTube in 2013. The rappers Bobani NPC and TyTe are not very famous in Macedonia. They have a few songs on YouTube from 2010-2014 but nothing in the past few years. I included this song because of the laid back summer vibe and the video which shows exactly what it’s like to party in the summer in the Balkans.

9. (SLOVAKIA) Majk Spirit & Delik – Free 

My favorite rapper from Slovakia, Majk Spirit has been around for almost a decade now making great rap songs. He started off as a member of the rap group H16 (perhaps a play on D12?) and then eventually branched off becoming successful on his own. This song is from his album Novy Clovek from 2011.

Slovak is a very interesting language to listen to. It seems to be the closest to every other Slavic language, since it is in the middle of the so-called ‘Slavic’ sea. I’ve met people from Slovakia who were able to understand much more of Croatian and Serbian then we were of Slovak. Slovaks have also told me they can easily pick up Czech, Polish and Ukrainian, and that many people know Russian because it used to be taught in schools, although the younger generation is mostly foregoing Russian in favor of other European languages.

10. (BOSNIA) Mayer & Ayllah – O Nama  

The rapper Mayer has been around for a while in Bosnia but never got too famous. His style is similar to Marcelo in Serbia. They both have a large vocabulary and use sophisticated language in their songs rapping about serious topics concerning life in the Balkans. The song O Nama is a decade old from 2008 and features a female rapper Ayllah, but she doesn’t seem to be popular either.

11. (BELARUS) Belaroots – Скрайні

There is not much rap out there in Belarusian. The language is rarely even spoken in the country and is mostly confined to rural areas near the border with Poland and Ukraine. Belaroots is one of the few rap groups in the country rapping in actual Belarusian and keeping the language alive. The group consists of two rappers, Angst and Zeman, who also post their own tracks in Belarusian.

To me it is hard to distinguish between Belarusian and Ukrainian and which one is closer to Russian. My instinct says that Belarusian would be closer to Russian, but I could be wrong. Russian speakers, do you understand Belarusian or Ukrainian better?

12. (BULGARIA) Григовор & Гена – Всичко Е Любов  

I ended the mix with a short track from Bulgaria from two rappers that are part of the underground Bulgarian rap group So Called Crew. The track has a sentimental tone to it and poetic lyrics about love. The only criticism I have of the track is it is too short, it could have used an extra verse.

Listen to the full mix on YouTube here. Listen to the full mix on SoundCloud here.