Szentendre atmosphere, a photo from Pest, West

Photographer's Note

Szentendre is known as the town of living art due to its artist colony of international renown, and its museums and galleries. With its well preserved, distinctive 18th-century townscape, the town centre is a group of heritage buildings unique in Hungary.

In the beginning of the 2nd century the Romans built a defence system in and around Szentendre. Their reinforced military camp was called Ulcisa Castra, the first known name of the town. Later the town was called after the patron saint of the parish church, the apostle St Andrew (Szent Endre).

Recent decades have seen major changes in the life of Szentendre as a result of the rapidly growing tourism industry, thanks to the historical atmosphere of the town's streets, its art life, as well as the Hungarian Open-Air Museum (Szentendrei Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Skanzen) which visualises rural life in Hungary.

Szentendre was awarded the Hild Medal in 1980 in recognition of its successes in town development and in preserving its traditions.

History

Populated for well over a millennium, under the Romans it was called Ulcisia Castra, meaning "Wolf Castle". Since the 1500s it was considered the center of the Hungarian Serb community. At one point it had as many as eight Serbian Orthodox church buildings and 3 chapels, and only one each Roman-Catholic and Evangelical. It is still the see of the Buda Diocese of the Serb Orthodox Church. Szentendre and the surrounding villages were also inhabited by Bulgarians ever since the Middle Ages. In 1690, the Serbian teacher and hegumen Stevan notes that Szentendre was even called Bolgarija by some. It had a Bulgarian neighbourhood of settlers from Chiprovtsi and a Chiprovtsi church. The names of locals clearly hint at a Bulgarian population.
In the 1700s, after liberation from the Turks, Szentendre enjoyed a rebirth with Mediterranean leanings, as Serbian, Croatian, Slovak, German and Greek newcomers moved in and lived alongside the Magyar inhabitants. According to the 1720 data, 88% of the population of the town were South Slavs (mostly Serbs, but also some South Slavic Catholics). The town to this day is characterised by a south European atmosphere with much baroque architecture, churches of various faiths, narrow sidestreets, and cobblestone roads.
Szentendre has been the home of many generations of Hungarian artists since early 20th century. There are many museums and contemporary galleries representing the rich traditions of the visual art.

How to get there:
Szentendre lies to the north of Budapest and can be reached by suburban railway (HÉV), and by local Volán bus lines to Szentendre or through to Esztergom. By car take Route 11. (Source: Vendégváró & wikipedia)

jhm, vasilpro, bayno, holmertz, lakshmip1949, jlbrthnn, jlbrthnn, Bluejeans, danos, macjake, jjcordier, Cricri has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lousat (57542) 2011-12-26 2:05

Hi George,very very nice composition whit the best light to take this beautiful colors,i like the surrounding perpsective and this peacefull atmosphere too.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

jhm (122334) 2011-12-26 2:06

Hello George,

Very nice quiet place without cars.
Excellent depth and perspective image, lovely spring picture
Sharpness and clarity are attractive.
A happy & Healthy 2012

Best regards,
John

vasilpro (40172) 2011-12-26 2:07

Hello George,
Wonderful composition, beautiful and peaceful square, lovely light and colors, excellent POV, very good clarity and sharpness, very nice framework.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and to your family, Vasilis.

besnard (48755) 2011-12-26 2:23

Bonjour George
Une très belle photo claire et lumineuse de cette vomme dont le clocher se laisse deviner au-travers des arbres.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

siudzi (23837) 2011-12-26 2:26

Hi George,

A nice winter (spring?:)) shot of this lovely place! Love the play of light and tree shadows in the foreground. It's so attractive motive. Well done.

Have a nice day!

Regards,
Malgorzata

bayno (16141) 2011-12-26 2:35

Hi George, it is true there is a great atmosphere, I really like the texture of dry branches of trees, the light is beautiful and the sky have a beautiful shade of blue, very nice even colored tower, i wish you a great new years, valter

jurek1951 (35765) 2011-12-26 2:46

Hi George,
This is a very nice photo. The focus and colors are great and the sky is interesting.
Georg

Gerrit (43735) 2011-12-26 2:49

Wonderful place and early spring atmosphere, György.
It was a very special day you took that photo: my 50th birthday.
Have a great time,
Gerrit

holmertz (26876) 2011-12-26 2:54

Hello György,
This was a beuatiful day in early spring. The trees have not yet developed the new leaves but whatever snow there may have been is gone for good. I can feel the warmth and the fresh air in the clear light and the fine colours. It's a very beautiful and idyllic place with a very pleasant atmosphere.
Kind regards, and wishing you and your family a pleasant end of this year.
Gert

erhan1958 (13043) 2011-12-26 3:44

selam GEORGE
how nice of a town's award-winning
a very beautiful autumn landscape
HEALT AND FUN 2012
greetings
ERHAN

lakshmip1949 (19110) 2011-12-26 3:48

Hello George,

A lovely square almost deserted. I like the colors, sharpness and peaceful atmosphere. The naked trees suggest that winter is not over yet. Beautiful blue sky as a nice color contrast.

Lakshmi

npecanhuk (53861) 2011-12-26 4:06

Hi George!
Lovely and peaceful-looking urban environment!
Very beautiful and attractive picture!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, chosen pov, horizontal format, black & white borders, contrasts and composition are all outstanding features here!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

francio64 (38188) 2011-12-26 5:03

Hi George,
bellissima composizione con un'eccellente gestione delle luci e ottima resa cromatica.
Bello il grafismo ottenuto dai rami secchi degli alberi.

TFS! Have a great day!
L'Assessore

Sergiom (39122) 2011-12-26 5:28

Bonjour George

Un nom de ville qui pourrait être un peu francais. Une petite place qui dégage une atmosphère douce et calme avec des couleurs superbes et une très belle lumière.

Amicalement

Serge

jlbrthnn (79773) 2011-12-26 6:39

Hello George,
Trunks and branched out boughs are very beautiful above this paved square, between the simple and pleasant architectures. Very beautiful bright, colored, clear photo. Bravo.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

Bluejeans (64221) 2011-12-26 8:11

Ola George ,
Linda esta praça com estas árvores sem folhas , bonitos os edifícios de fundo , belo tom de azul de céu , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Boas Festas

Silvio1953 (98001) 2011-12-26 9:33

Ciao George, fascinating composition with naked trees, excellent perspective, splendid light and colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

danos (73926) 2011-12-26 9:39

Hello George,
nice the panoramic view of the square with the buildings to fill the backdrop and the left side of the image.With my imagination try to see the place with the trees to be full of leafs during the Spring time.

Season Greetings,Danos

macjake (39207) 2011-12-26 14:08

Hi George
elegant collection of blues, yellows and natural stones.
blues and yellows almost always look great in photos.
bright and luminous scene.
Happy Holidays!
Craig

jjcordier (62280) 2011-12-26 22:53

George
Remarquable composition sous une lumière fantastique (on comprend que la ville soit très prisée par les artistes!). Des couleurs splendides pour cet endroit vraiment charmant.
Amicalement
JJ

Graal (88808) 2011-12-27 0:03

Jó napot George,
an interesting presentation and photo from your archive. Nice light, shadows and colours. Good note. Photo well done.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

dkmurphys (36727) 2011-12-27 1:30

Hi Gyorgy,
Very fine atmosphere. The pavement and the shadows are just amazing. Well catch, enjoy the week.

Cricri (86327) 2011-12-27 8:26

Hi George
Un bon cadrage des arbres dénudé de leur feuilles qui permet une jolie vue sur les bâtiments colorées,une lumière et un ciel superbe
Meilleurs voeux 2012
cricri

emka (58024) 2011-12-27 23:31

Hi George,

Time to return to Hungary. Beautiful square in this artist's town. Beautiful light in the early spring. Very pleasant calm atmosphere.
I could see from your Warsaw gallery that you didn't cross Vistula with your camera, but Warsaw is also on the other side :).

have a beautiful day

MAlgo

amaryllis (30149) 2011-12-28 1:09

Bonjour Georg
une belle composition printanière; une luminosité superbe, une netteté également et un beau cadrage avec ces arbres sur cette place
belle composition
amicalement
Juliette

abmdsudi (26215) 2011-12-28 8:38

Hi George
Its a really nice characterful old town village. The stunning yellow building and the church behind triger the eyes to explore frame in great details. Excellent framing and optimally positioned at a stretegic location. This is a compelling photo really in gorgeous colors and those tree branches provide good framing as well as strong secodary focal of interest. Fine effort, Congrats
Best regards

prasun984 (5590) 2011-12-28 22:46

Hi George,
wonderful shot with nice framing by the naked trees in FG & the yellow tone house in BG...also like the texture deep blue sky and the shadows of the naked tree in the passage...
very nice light management with nice color contrast & sharpness...
look like a greetings card picture...
Wish You & your family Happy New Year - 2012

Prasun

siamesa (27449) 2011-12-29 1:26

Bom dia George

This place is really peaceful. It seems a city of my region. I loved it. Perfect point of view.
Abraços
maria