"Countries like Romania, Serbia, and Bosnia upkeep socialist spaces, with the aim of turning them into Instagrammable' spots where people can experience the regimes of the past The swimming pool in the house that belonged to communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, in Bucharest, Romania, photographed on August 22, 2023 Pavel Dudek (Alamy / Cordon Press) Looking for a glimpse into the past? Do you prefer megalomania, or domestic intrigue?"
"Want to experience the everyday life of another era some dark episodes, perhaps? In Romania, there are plenty of options. You can visit communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu's mansion, the Palace of Parliament, or even the prisons that were used to crush dissent. However, if you travel to Serbia, Croatia, or Bosnia, the experience will be paradoxical: in contrast to the places where the Cold War left behind some of the worst images of the late-20th-century,"
Post-socialist sites in several Eastern European countries are preserved and marketed as tourist attractions that allow visitors to experience communist-era environments. Romania offers visits to Nicolae Ceausescu's mansion, the Palace of Parliament, and former prisons used to crush dissent. Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia often present the Tito era more benevolently, producing paradoxical memories across the region. Communism continues to generate revenue through heritage tourism, blending nostalgia with commercialization. Nostalgia functions as an emotional repertoire expressing loss, belonging, and attempts to make sense of post-collapse instability and absence of community. The Romanian communist regime (1947–1989) involved mass imprisonment, killings, and widespread torture.
Read at english.elpais.com
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