The best attraction is the one you knew nothing about. You arrive, see it, and are left in awe. That’s exactly what happened to us. Leaving Novi Sad and heading toward Belgrade, we decided not to take the highway but to go the long way around, passing through numerous small towns and villages along the route. Imagine our surprise when, barely half an hour into the journey, in a small town called Beočin, we came across a fascinating yet partially ruined estate.
As it turned out later, it was Spitzer Castle. Here I’ll allow myself to quote from Serbia’s official website dedicated to castles and palaces:
The castle of the Spitzer family is located in Beočin and was built in 1898 for a family of wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish landowners who were one of the three co-owners of the Beočin cement plant. The Spitzer family is originally from Visegrád in northern Hungary, where they also owned factories.
The condition of the castle left much to be desired. The grounds were fenced off with mesh, and entering the building was, of course, prohibited (for safety reasons).
The weather was overcast, so my pictures came out a bit gloomy.
Around the castle, there was once a large garden with fountains and gazebos.
At the other end of the castle, my wife discovered an entrance door, and of course we could not resist going inside.
We passed by a richly decorated interior door ...
... and stepped into the central hall. The floor tiles have been preserved remarkably well.
“Dance in the empty hall,” reads the inscription.
The balconies of the second floor.
Everything looked rather unreliable in terms of structural stability, but we still took the risk and went up to the second floor.
A room bearing traces of intrusion by our contemporaries.
A view from the balcony onto the faded remnants of former luxury. I will allow myself one more quote:
The interior of the castle was made in the spirit of the ornate variant of the Hungarian Seccesion and was created a little later. The most valuable part of the interior of this building is the central hall.
Indeed, the central hall is truly impressive.
Another amazing door. Attempts at restoration are visible.
We did not stay inside for long.
We walked a bit more around the castle.
I photographed architectural details.
This is clearly a loggia.
Such windows are among the most unusual elements of the building.
A small corner balcony and some detail whose purpose I do not fully understand, but it seems to be intended for hanging flags.
Overall, examining architectural details took up most of the time we spent at the castle.
Finally, another particularly notable fact about the castle, at least for me personally, was learning who had filmed movies here. I have long been a big fan of cinema, and of course visiting places where Emir Kusturica shot Black Cat, White Cat or where Rian Johnson filmed The Brothers Bloom left an unforgettable impression on me.
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Beočin, Serbia.
May, 2024.
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@alexanderfluke's travels