Elder, castles and other stories

In our house, a lot of elder juice is a must. As it is generally known, elder cannot be bought at the market, but must be picked up if you do not have your ‘dealer’ (grandmother, grandfather, aunt in the village, etc.) …

Since we, unfortunately, do not have such, we must search the old fashioned way…

To pick the right elder you have to go out of town and off the beaten track to make the juice fragrant and golden yellow. You have to find paths like this that are less commonly used because elder loves just such.

You will be sure that you are on the right ecological path and that the juice will be of proven quality, even when you happen to see things like this.

Now, a road like this has to lead somewhere, and not be just a dead end.

This time the road took us to Fantast Castle. In Vojvodina, everything is called a castle because we don’t really have them, but this one really looks the part.

Anyway, it is not possible to enter the castle with a wheelchair at the main entrance. I entered through the side gate, which I suspect was used for carriages and horses, to each his own…

This castle is located 15 km from Becej, 70 from Novi Sad and 160 from BGD.

It was made by Bogdan Dundjerski out of spite to show the others that he was not bankrupt, and the legend says that he did not sleep in it for even one night.

He started building it at the age of 57. The plan of the castle was in his head and in order for the secrets to remain secret, the castle was built by masters brought from the Czech Republic.

During the construction, a lot of earth was excavated, so it is suspected that there are many undiscovered secret corridors that connected the castle with the nearby stable.

An additional mystery is contributed by the illogical layout of the windows as well as the strange style of construction.

Bogdan Dundjerski loved three things in his life. Horses, wine and women in that order, so it is no wonder that the castle was named after a horse named Fantast, who prepared many happy moments for Bogdan. In 1932, he won three races at the Belgrade Hippodrome and was buried on the estate.

His skull and femur are reportedly still kept in one of the castle’s showcases, but I was not able to confirm that.

There is a tower whose steps you can climb, if you are not in a wheelchair, and be honored with a ‘fantastic’ view.

I saw it second hand. It is said that Mr. Dunderski took those he did not like to the tower where they always asked him the same question “How large is your estate?” and he replied, “As far as your eye can see, and a little over.”

Mr. Dundjerski’s great passion was also women, and the greatest was Mara Dinjaski, the wife of his blacksmith, to whom he richly compensated for the loss. It is said that Mara bathed in milk in the pool of the castle, he lived with her until his death.

Mr. Dundreski left a will for the castle to be an agricultural academy after his death, which will be managed by Matica Srpska, but as it usually happens, plans are rarely realized.

The communists came and everything in the castle was blown up and destroyed. It is said that they even kept sheep in some rooms. Only the floor and doors of the original castle remain.

Today, there is some Dundjerski home furniture in the castle, including a piano played by the unfortunate Lenka Dundjerski.

Next to the castle there is a chapel in which Bogdan Dundjerski is buried.

It was painted by his great friend, the famous painter Uroš Predić.

He was supposed to be buried there as well, but his heirs had different plans. The iconostasis was looted, and on the remaining icons, one of which represents the Saint Mary, it is believed that it was made in the image of his great love Mara.