City Hall
Bridge over the Danube to Komárom, Hungary
Nádvorie Európy. July 2019
vestiges of an empire
Komárno was an easy day trip by train from Bratislava and its location on the Danube looked interesting. With that much information I set off.
The city was actually a divided place being a leftover from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On the north bank of the river was Slovakian Komárno and on the south bank, Hungarian. Komárom. Previously, in the days of empire, it was one city (with the center being in present day Slovakia). One thing was certain - Komárno was Hungarian.
Komárno is Slovakia's principal port on the Danube. It is also the center of the Hungarian community in Slovakia, which makes up 53.8% (2011 census) of the town's population.
(Wikipedia)
Armed with no knowledge, I arrived in the town just before lunch. After a quick look around the tiny historic center, I decided to have a bite. I felt so "in luck" to find a Hungarian restaurant. Ha! Later I found that, basically, the whole town was Hungarian and it would have be more of an oddity to find a Slovak restaurant there. My lunch was fabulous - I love Hungarian food.
There was an old fort to explore, but mostly just the walls remained It was late in opening and I was one of a group patiently waiting outside the gate. We were tourists storming the gate. After entry, it was not noteworthy, but that probably could have been said for the whole city. My conquest of the fort felt hollow, and so did this little Hungarian enclave in Slovakia.
I walked to the bridge over the Danube to Hungary and crossed to the halfway point. I considered visiting the Hungarian side, but it was a long walk and I had not yet finished with the Slovak side. I took some time to look at the Danube and watched freighters struggling against its current headed deeper into Europe. The riverfront (compared to Bratislava) was not very interesting. I returned to town to see one remaining "sight", Nádvorie Európy.
The Europe Place in Komárno belongs to modern monuments in the Danube Region. It is an unusual collection of buildings typical of many European countries. Every single house on The Europe Place represents one of the 36 countries and regions through a distinctive architectural features. In the courtyard there is a Sculpture gallery “Europe”, which presents the monarchs and famous historical figures.
(Wikipedia)
I really had to laugh. I was in Europe (not Disneyworld) and I found a place that was trying to recreate the "Old World" in a very faux, American fashion. Komárno itself had old buildings just a few steps away; Bratislava had a lovely little old town [see: Bratislava]; Győr, Hungary [see: Győr] was not far over the bridge with its wealth of Baroque architecture - why was it necessary to build this little town square that was trying to "recreate" Europe in the middle of Europe itself?
I decided that Komárno was not for me (although I had a great lunch) and unexpectedly hopped a train north to Nové Zámky in hopes that it might be more interesting. Little did I know that my little Hungarian stopover was going to be the best part of the day...