Baba Pusta Castle

One more abandoned castle Baba Pusta, residence of nobleman Karoly Fernbah, is located 9 km from the village of Aleksa Santic, in Backa, near the border with Hungary. Of all the castles of Vojvodina this one is perhaps the most reminiscent of castles in Transylvania. It was built in 1907 and designed by the Hungarian architect Hikisch Reszo in secessionist style.

Family Fernbah had significant industrial facilities and large complexes of land in Backa, Banat and around Szeged in Hungary at the end of XIX and early XX century. Castle Baba Pusta, was just one of their many residences. Brothers Joseph, Janos Balint, Antal and Karoly owned numerous other castles in Vojvodina. Joseph had a castle near Apatin, Balint a summer house in Sonta and Antal had a castle in Temerin.

The castle is surrounded by a neglected park and a bunch of very dilapidated outbuildings. Park used to be arranged based on the principle of English gardens as an open space with an emphasized entrance facade with portico and a square bell tower at one side. The first Ginkgo in this part of Europe was planted here more than a hundred years ago as well as many other exotic and rare plant species from all continents.

Castle's original appearance

Half of the castle's roof is missing as well as other building materials. The interior is even more daunting than the exterior. Anything that could have been peeled, teared out, torn off, taken, used or sold is missing. Only bare walls are left, overwritten with graffiti. The interior, which once was enriched with various materials such as marble, wood, glass, chandeliers, a fireplace and representative pieces of furniture, was destroyed and those pieces stolen. Unusual and designed with special attention is a small family chapel, reached by a painted entrance hall. Despite being very destroyed and peeled, on the walls can still be seen images of certain saints and angels.

By the end of the seventies castle represented the headquarters of one agricultural company, but after the relocation of the management board, the building was left without any supervision. Back in the early fifties, the park was placed under state's protection (over 165 plant species were found) and declared a cultural property, but all in vain, since still no one is taking care of the place.

Today, Baba Pusta makes an ideal place for roaming, climbing and overall exploring of the surroundings. Despite being severely demolished, the castle still causes admiration of those who stumble upon it. But looking at a bigger picture, it is a rather sad sight. 

Kastel Castle

The Kastel Castle is situated about 60 km north from Belgrade and only 7 km away from Zrenjanin, in Ecka village. It was built in the English style, between 1816 and 1820. Squire Luka Lazar bought the then-deserted estate Ecka in 1781 and there built a church and founded the settlement for his workers. Kastel Castle was erected at the beginning of XIX century by Luka's son, Lazar Agoston and he is the one credited the most for its opening. Often mentioned fact is that the famous Hungarian violinist Franz Liszt, played at the official opening ceremony, on August 28, 1820 (when he was only 9 years old).

For many years, Kastel was a centre of hunters’ gatherings, with people from both Serbia and abroad. Austro-hungarian crown prince Franz Ferdinand and Serbian crown prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic also used to visit and stay at the castle. World War II and war destruction did not spare Kastel and owners left it for good and went to the USA, so the castle ended up as state property. Luckily, since 1990s, the Kastel has been under protection of Institute for Cultural Monuments, so it did not have to suffer the same fate as some of the previous castles.

The building is a modest single storey building, located in a very large, cultivated park. Nearby is the old-fashioned water tower that looks like a fortress. 

After extensive renovations, the castle Kastel was mostly restored and converted into a hotel. It has 38 rooms and 7 suites, which are a mixture of modern and medieval style. In former ballroom that was turned into a restaurant, guests can enjoy flavours of both Serbian and international cuisine and sounds of wonderful music. The castle represents a successful example of revitalized cultural monument (it was declared a cultural monument in 2001). Since 2004, it has been in private property.

Bisingen Castle

One more abandoned castle is Castle in Vlajkovac, also known as Bisingen, located on the international road Belgrade-Timisoara, in the municipality of Vrsac. It was built in 1859 by Count György Moconje on his property. In 1888. countess Georgina Moconje brought the estate and castle as a dowry to famous Austro-hungarian noble family Bissingen-Nippenburgh. They kept the castle in possession until the beginning of the Second World War, when it was seized by the state according to the law on nationalization. 

The castle is a one-storey building with elongated rectangular base and symmetrical interior layout. According to the stylistic orientation, the building is classicist, beautifuly and richly decorated, particularly in wrought iron. Facades are characterized by symmetry and classical entrance. The facade facing the park has emphasized central part, connected by terraces. On its top used to be the Bissingen-Nipenburgh family crest.

Before, the entrance to the complex was a gate made of wrought iron, and in the yard were also located a family tomb and a chapel, an artificial lake with a fountain and sculpture in the middle of the stream and bridges. The castle today is classified as a cultural monument of great importance, although it is severely neglected.

Castle Bisingen's former appearance

The Bisingen Castle is more or less on the verge of collapsing, and of Italian investors, who were supposed to renovate and turn it into a hotel, there is no trace. Count Franz von Bissingen, the only successor of the castle in Vlajkovac, also shown concern over the rapid deterioration of the castle. The Count, who now lives in Germany, filed a request for the return of the property and was even willing to give consent to its renovation by Italians, regardless of the outcome of restitution. But sadly, no progress has been made to this day. 

Vladicanski Palace

The Vladicanski palace in Vrsac was built between 1750 and 1757 as a multi-storey building for Eparchy bishops of Banat after Eparchy's relocation from Caransebes in Romania to Vrsac. It is one of the most beautiful shrine buildings in Vrsac, and one of the finest examples of bishop's palaces in whole Serbian history. It is the oldest Bishop's Palace of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the only one with this purpose from the Baroque period.

On the ground floor of the palace there is a chapel dedicated to St. Archangels - Michael and Gabriel, with iconostasis painted between 1761 and 1765. The iconostasis is one of the rare saved iconostasis from the XVIII century. There are also many valuable collections of icons, portraits of the most important bishops of the Vrsac eparchy and a huge library with several thousand books and archival materials.

Radical renovation, which completely changed the look of the building, was made by Bishop Gavrilo Zmejanovic in 1904. The entryway was changed and roof reconstructed. Fence of the park with rich Baroque combination of the wall and wrought iron remained authentic. At that time, the main facade received a neo-Baroque and neo-Renaissance decor, new windows and pilasters, while the base of the building didn't significantly change. Later reconstructions did not fundamentally change the appearance of the building.

The entire Bishop's residence serves also as an exhibition of rare and valuable works of art from the 18th and 19th century. The first portrait of Bishop of Vrsac was created in 1763 in Baroque style by Viennese painter, Johan Michel Vagner. The portrait is a life-size representation of Bishop Jovan Georgijevic. Also representative is the bishop's cabinet with 14 portraits of Vrsac's, Banat's and other hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Portrait gallery of bishops of Banat is in the lobby of the Palace, while in the dining room are small icons on the canvas of St. Nicholas, St. George, Holy Healers and St. Demetrius - works of Uros Predic. 

Most of the furniture is in the spirit of the Baroque and Biedermeier, in perfect harmony with the interior. The Vladicanski palace is  a cultural monument of great importance, but it is not open for visitors, since it is the seat of the Bishop of Banat. 

Belimarkovic Castle

Belimarkovic Castle was erected between 1882 and 1887, in Vrnjacka Spa by General Jovan Belimarkovic, minister of King Milan Obrenovic and governor of the minor King Aleksandar Obrenovic.

The marble building was designed by the Viennese architect Vintera in the spirit of romantic historicism, with Renaissance elements and heavily resembles Polish villas in northern Italy. The castle boasts a double-flight staircase leading to the porch of the first floor.  Romantic inspiration may be noted in the Romanesque serrated towers on both sides.
Until 1968 the castle was still inhabited by members of Belimarkovic family but soon after that it was redeemed, renovated and got a different, cultural purpose. At that time it was also declared the immovable cultural monument of great importance.

After conservation and restoration works on the building that were carried out in the 70s, the castle was converted into a local museum with settings related to the territory of Vrnjacka Spa and its environment. Popularly called the Castle of Culture, today it is a showroom where concerts of classical music, different classes, schools and academies are organized (Summer Academy of Fine Art, Summer Academy of classical music, Contemporary graphics etc.). All this makes it a very interesting place for tourists and admirers of culture and tradition and one of the most attractive locations in Vrnjacka Spa.

Conclusion and honourable mentions

Today all developed European countries are developing some sort of tourism based on their preserved forts, palaces, castles and summer houses. Serbia on the other hand, never seemed to be interested in this, since there are no funds for their reconstruction and maintenance. And maybe, since we don't find these pieces of architecture to be part of our cultural heritage, because a lot of them were built by foreigner families. This is proven by the fact that palaces and residences of our people and rulers were mostly preserved (King's Palace and White Palace on Dedinje, Konak of Milos and Ljubica, etc).

Dundjerski Castle in Kulpin

Contrary to European castles that are preserved to this day, in Serbia, most of these former magnificent buildings with precious interior are now in poor condition. Mostly ruins are left surrounded by neglected parks and rare trees from all over the world, reminiscent of a time when there used to be luxury.

Karaconji Castle in Novo Milosevo

Ilion Castle in Sremski Karlovci

In fact, what usually happened in our country to these gaudy buildings? As soon as they were left without owners and tenants, especially after nationalization and confiscation in 1945, everything was dragged away. From the windows and doors to the old expensive elements of the interior, wooden furniture, grand chandeliers, pianos, paintings, antique firearms. Where all this eneded up, no one has even asked, nor have dealt with it. 

Vladicanski Palace in Novi Sad

Noihousen Castle in Srpska Crnja, today a motel named Banaterra

Mansions Luiza and Bagoivar in Palic

We could at least have been grateful to those people who left their legacy behind, preserve those buildings and even develop quality tourism. I am sure many would still love to ride in the chariot with coach and enjoy in the tranquility of nature and the chirping of birds and overall unique charm that this kind of architecture brings.