Novi Sad & Sremski Karlovci: the back story

About Novi Sad & Sremski Karlovci: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Belgrade Editorial Team

An hour north of Belgrade, the Danube flows past a vast fortress on a rock, a lively city of pastel squares and, a few kilometres downstream, a small baroque town of churches, schools and wine cellars. Novi Sad and Sremski Karlovci grew up on the old frontier between the Habsburg and Ottoman empires, and their story is written in their streets.

A frontier on the Danube

For centuries the Danube here was a frontier. On the south bank, a high rock above the river had been fortified since the Middle Ages, and after the Habsburgs drove back the Ottomans at the end of the 17th century they turned it into one of the largest fortresses in Europe: Petrovaradin, built over almost a century from the 1690s. Beneath it, kilometres of underground galleries were dug for soldiers and supplies, and you can still walk through part of them today with a guide.

High on the walls stands the fortress’s clock tower, famous for its “drunken clock”: the hands are reversed, with the long hand showing the hours, so that boatmen on the Danube could read the time from far away.

Novi Sad and Sremski Karlovci grew up on the old frontier between two empires, and their story is written in their streets.

The Serbian Athens

Across the river, Novi Sad was founded at the end of the 17th century as a settlement of merchants and craftsmen beside the fortress, and in 1748 it became a free royal city. In the 19th century it became the cultural heart of the Serbs living in the Habsburg lands, home to Matica srpska, the oldest Serbian cultural and scientific society, which moved here in 1864, and to the first Serbian theatre companies. People began to call it the Serbian Athens.

Today its compact old centre is one of the most charming in the region: Liberty Square with its neo-Gothic Name of Mary Church and the City Hall, pedestrian Zmaj Jovina and Dunavska streets lined with cafés, and the shady Danube Park. Every July, the fortress across the river becomes the stage for the EXIT festival, one of the best-known music festivals in Europe.

Sremski Karlovci: wine, faith and learning

A short drive downstream, Sremski Karlovci is a small town with a big history. In 1699 the Treaty of Karlowitz, which ended a long war between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League, was signed here, and the Chapel of Peace on the hill above the town marks the spot. In the 18th century Karlovci became the seat of the Serbian Orthodox metropolitans, and in 1791 the first Serbian grammar school, the Karlovci Gymnasium, opened its doors; the handsome buildings around its main square date from this golden age.

Karlovci is also a town of wine. Its cellars have made wine for centuries on the slopes of Fruška Gora, and its speciality is bermet, a sweet, spiced dessert wine made to an old local recipe. Several family wineries welcome visitors for tastings.

Fruška Gora

Behind the town rise the gentle wooded hills of Fruška Gora, a national park since 1960 and home to more than a dozen Orthodox monasteries, many founded between the 15th and 18th centuries, which gave it the nickname the Serbian Holy Mountain. Between the monasteries, vineyards cover the sunny slopes, and small wineries open their doors for tastings.

Our advice: the fast Soko train makes Novi Sad an easy day trip from Belgrade, taking about 40 minutes. Spend the morning in the old town, cross the bridge to Petrovaradin for lunch with a view, then take a taxi or a local bus to Sremski Karlovci for the afternoon and a glass of bermet before heading back.

Through the years

Dates from the city, fortress and town histories.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Novi Sad & Sremski Karlovci: the back story before you go.