The places that David and I frequent when we travel generally fall into two categories. The first of places we’ve seen, researched, geeked out over, and fallen into rabbit holes about for months (or years!) leading up to our departure. Places like Buzludzha, the Hara Submarine Pen, Gergeti Sameba Church in Kazbegi, and Gozo’s Azure Window fall into this category. The other category is a rarer breed – the kind of place that takes you by surprise. The type of place that you see on a whim, without expectations or prior biases.
The old Subotica Synagogue is this latter, more elusive type of place.
Our trip to Subotica was an amazing travel day, exploring with a new friend, Levente. I knew precious little about the synagogue before we went – that it was built at the turn of the 20th century by a small elite group of Hungarian Jews in the Hungarian Secessionist style of Art Nouveau (a personal favorite), and that WWII left the Jewish population decimated in this northern Serbian city, leaving the structure to rot in the following years from lack of use.
The combination of the architectural style, important history, and shabby beauty of the building had piqued my interest in a wikipedia rabbit hole the week before we visited, and, as luck would have it, Levi had a key to get us in. Here’s what greeted us:
We only spent about 45 minutes in the building – we had a lot to see that day – but it didn’t take much time for it to rise in the ranks of my favorite experiences of our entire epic travel year. We also learned that the building was in the throes of some major restorations (hence why there are no outdoor shots of the building – it was shrouded in scaffolding). I talk about the negative effects of modern restorations pretty frequently, but for whatever reason it bothered me less with the Subotica Synagogue. 
I’m not sure if the Jews are coming back to Subotica. I kind of doubt it, as the city is experiencing rapid declines population (many are moving to neighboring Hungary for the opportunities provided by an EU state), but there’s something inherently valuable about acknowledging the atrocities in the past. By rebuilding (and being so devoted to the original style), the city is acknowledging a difficult history by resurrecting a once and still magnificent piece of religious architecture.
PIN ME!
For more info on getting to Subotica, check out my post on our experience in the city here. The Subotica Synagogue is open to the public only from Tuesday to Friday from 10am-4pm. We were in Subotica on a Monday, but Levi (the head of the Subotica Greeters Program, and employee of the city tourism office) was able to snag keys, and open it up for us. Even if visiting out of hours, I would recommend getting led there by a Subotica Greeter – for more information, write greeters@visitsubotica.rs
