Wednesday 6 July: The ship left Hungary and passed between Serbia and Croatia and docked in Vukovar, Croatia today. Vukovar is located in the Eastern part of the Republic of Croatia and the city is positioned on important transport routes from the northwest to the southeast in the Danube Valley. We decided to borrow the ship's bicycles and just cycle around the town.
After the Romans it was settled by the Slavs, and has been controlled at various times by the Hungarians and the Ottomans, among may others.It became part of Yugoslavia after WWI, and was the centre of the Bata (shoes and other goods) manufacturing industry.
Following the break-up of Yugoslavs, a bitter conflict , called the Homeland War, which was fought with the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from 1991 to 1995. It created a deep cultural divide although they are genetically similar.
The town itself is not very big, and still shows signs of the fighting.Many buildings still have bullet holes. The overall air is one of survival rather than thriving, as many people left during the fighting and not all returned. There is still the issue of unsettled ownership of property where original owners or their inheritors have not been established.
As we cycled we came across the city's water tower, riddled with bullet holes (see Frances' post) , which was retained by city planners to serve as a testimony to the Homeland War.
We also visited the award-winning Vukovar Museum installed in the former Eltz Palace which covers everything from prehistory to the present.The amount of information over 4 levels is daunting, but forms an excellent visual educational resource, especially for students. Overall it was a slightly depressing, but informative and worthwhile visit.
Here are some photos from Frances of the destruction in the museum.
