Just before the summer the refurbished riva (sea promenade) of Croatia's Adriatic metropolis Split was ceremonially opened. The feedback, it seems, was generally disenchanting. Westy, an eyewitness and Splicanin, writes: "Take away the palm trees and the Palace and it could be in the centre of Milton Keynes or Birmingham, all very modern with it's large slabs of concrete [pic], uncomfortable chic benches and very trendy bins. The worst thing, though, are the lights. They are huge ... and completely ruining the view of the Palace. A really terrible mistake, unbelievable." As part of the "harmonization" of the area, Split's main public space, all cafes have been ordered to purchase the same kind of chairs (expensive, and reportedly not bearing more than 85 kilos). The 11-Million-Euro project was designed by the Zagreb architects 3LHD also responsible for the recent "Memorial Bridge" (really Most hrvatskih branitelja, i.e. "bridge of Croatian defenders") in Rijeka. Pictures here (including an aerial) and here.
 

Still in Vojvodina, though in a different corner: In the northern city of Subotica the region's first mosque has been built with funds from Novi Pazar (the opposite corner of the country) and Turkey. According to B92, the city's Catholic Bishop Ivan Penzeša "also assisted the project". On the newsworthiness of this event, "Jovan R." insists (in the B92-Forum) that this development (mosques being built in Serbia again, and the new one being the first one in Vojvodina, at least in the last two centuries) is "normal ... [T]here's nothing strange or exotic about it. It is the sign of a civilized society that is willing to respect the rights and freedoms of all citizens, without favoring or discriminating against members of any religion." He also points that there are in Subotica 8 Catholic churches, 2 Protestant ones, 2 Orthodox ones, a synagogue, "and now also a mosque". For a picture of the newly-opened mosque, click here. I couldn't say that it's a particularly attractive building (what's this dome?). For architecture with a capital A, cf. Zlatko Ugljen's 1980 White Mosque (remember Ronchamp? ;) in the central Bosnian town of Visoko, or the 2001 Stari Ilijas Mosque by Aida Daidzic in Ilijas (near Sarajevo).

Further developments in the "monuments movement" (see an older posting for background): this time it's Bob Marley, and the setting is the "Rock Village" Banatski Sokolac (where? - it's not in Bosnia, as one commentator from Belgrade believed, but in Vojvodina) on the border with Romania (map). Site of a recent rock festival, one of the conclusions voiced on the rock village's website: "the backyard of elementary school was too small for all the people who love rock music." The initiative for the Marley monument, on the other hand, even prompted a response by the "ministar of information, youth & culture" of Jamaica (read here). Pictures of the monument: here and there.

After a brief summer break, partly forced by a laptop breakdown (or, rather, "break-apart"), [BalkanCities] will now resume operation.