Look down, Manhole covers can be very interesting. I had noticed how shiny this was and has the city Emblem. What I didn’t notice until a close look at the picture was the Jewish Star and the Muslim moon (the castle is probably a church, a lot of crosses). Hmm, should I be impressed?
No, not really, because the only above street parking lot in the city was the site of the old synagogue. there is a new Jewish community center and our guide said they’d build a new synagogue here – for what a community of 1000? Most of whom are probably secular- so they enjoy a community center but don’t really have a need for a synagogue.
I can’t read the Croatian, but I can read the Hebrew, it says the old synagogue was built in 1867 and destroyed by the Fascists in 1941. So I googled, and sure enough, most of the work of killing the Jews was done before the Nazis arrived. The Ustase were the Croatian Fascist party – aligned with Mussolini, but Italian Jews weren’t eliminated until the Nazis got involved – no so in Croatia. The problem for me in Europe is all the dead Jews, we later saw more Jewish sites – but basically – dead.
Is this meant to be a Star of David? Is it just happenstance that it looks like this? Am I wrong about the star and the moon on the symbol of the city? Lets go ask Google. Well, not much help there, they simply describe the emblem, and to add to my discomfort – it is supposed to be on a blue background and the star is yellow- So the Nazis just appropriated a symbol that was already there? Makes sense, since they didn’t create anything, they appropriated and then destroyed. Oh well, lets move on.
Croatia is Roman Catholic – the last Catholic nation until you get Far East to the Philippines. This church is undergoing earthquake renovations, and yes, the tile roof is lovely.
1841, not bad.
Another nearby church, which I guessed was Orthodox because of all the mosaic, but no, it is Catholic-Eastern. When you are on the border, things do get mixed up.
You know me, I love mosaics. didn’t go inside, but I’m sure it was equally beautiful.
I think this is about the workshop that made these mosaics in 1910. I’m too lazy to go for translation. Of course the capitol of all mosaics is just across the Adriatic in Ravenna so makes sense they’d have them here as well.
I don’t know what this building is, all I know is that I love the rooftop. And using Google I figured out that this was built in 1888. I have such a problem doing crossword puzzles when they ask for the date in Roman numerals…. I’m fine until about 20…
this is how the whole group will look for the next week, bundled up against the cold. And here I am again, showing arrested decay – because it’s one of those things I love. I”m blaming the earthquake for revealing this, I’m also fascinated at what went into to making a brick wall.
OK, so here is some famous annoying graffiti, but what really caught my eye was the worn down poster. Octavia Butler, her famous book the Parable of the Sower! She was a native of Pasadena, lived for a while and is buried back in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, just north of Pasadena. On a tour of the cemetery (yeah, I have a thing for cemeteries) I saw her grave – just a simply marker. Good to know that someone here likes here, even if pasting this is a form of graffiti.
Next, we drive north to Slovania and Lake Bled.
Leah