556 SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p563–4 and p565
Novi Sad 2
74 km (46 miles) N of Belgrade.
- 500,000. £ @ n Bulevar
Mihajla Pupina 9, (021) 421 811. _
EXIT Festival (Jul). http://www.turizamns.rs
A prosperous town on the
north shore of the Danube
river, Novi Sad is the adminis-
trative centre of the Vojvodina
region. The town owes its
existence to the strategically
located Petrovaradin Fortress
on the south bank of the
river. Forti fied since Roman
times, Petrovaradin was
turned into an impregnable
garrison by the Austrians in
the 18th cen tury, and the
civilian settle ment of Novi
Sad grew up by its side.
Largely populated by Serbs
fleeing from the Ottoman
Empire, the town soon became
a major centre of Serbian
religion, culture and learning.
The first ever Serbian-language
theatre was founded here in
1861, and the key literary and
cultural society, Matica Srpska,
moved here from Budapest
in 1864. Modern Novi Sad
houses the cultural institutions
of Vojvodina’s Hungarian,
Slovak, Romanian and Rusyn
(a different ethnic group to
the Russians) communities.
P Pedestrian Zone
A cluster of pedestrianized
streets constitutes the centre
of Novi Sad. At their heart is
the Freedom Square (trg
Slobode), domi nated by Ivan
Meštrović’s statue of Svetozar
Miletić, a 19th-century politi-
cian and lawyer who fought
for the rights of Serbs within
the Habsburg monarchy.
Freedom Square, the spacious hub of Novi Sad
Looming over the eastern end
of the square is the Neo-Gothic
St Mary’s Cathedral (crkva sv
Marije), the city’s main Catholic
church and the principal venue
for Hungarian and Croatian-
speaking masses. The
church’s plain interior stands
in remarkable contrast to its
colourful stained-glass
windows, made by Czech
and Hungarian masters.
Stretching northeast from
the cathedral, Zmaj Jovina
ulica is distin guished by
several two-storey build-
ings painted in pastel
hues of yellow, ochre
and turquoise. At the
end of the street stands
the 19th-century
Bishop’s Palace,
designed by Vladimir
Nikolić in a variety of
archi tectural styles. Just
around the corner is the
Orthodox Church of St George,
dating from 1742, which fea-
tures a Rococo iconostasis and
vivacious Art Nouveau stained-
glass win dows by local artist
Paja Jovanović.P Petrovaradin Fortress
Petrovaradinska tvrđava.
# 8am–5pm Tue–Sun.
City Museum Tel (021) 643- 8 9am–3pm (except
Mon). http://www.museumns.rs
A short walk east of
central Novi Sad,
Petrovaradin Fortress
(Petrovaradinska
tvrđava) stretches
along the high ground
on the south bank of
the Danube river.
Occupied first by the
Romans, then medieval
Hungarians and Ottoman
Turks, the fortress itself dates
from the arrival of the
Austrians in 1692. Eager to
consolidate their rule over
Central Europe, they saw
Petrovaradin as the focal point
of their southern defences and
set about building a fortress
so formi dable that the
Ottomans would be dissuaded
from ever taking up arms
against Austria again. The
resulting stronghold comprised
a star-shaped pattern of bas-
tions and trenches, with over
15 km (9 miles) of under-
ground galleries to house
30,000 defending troops.
Positioned high above
the river, the central citadel
offers magnificent views of
Novi Sad from its ramparts.
Inside, many of the barrack
blocks have now been
converted into artists’
Monument to Serbian statesman
Svetozar Miletić at Freedom SquareSt Mary’s
CathedralE Museum of Vojvodina
Dunavska 35. Tel (021) 420 566.
# 10am–5pm Tue–Sun.
http://www.muzejvojvodine.org.rs
Located in the pedestrian
zone, this museum (Muzej
Vojvodine) displays Neolithic
pottery and tools unearthed
in the region. There is
also a wealth of finds from
the Roman city of Sirmium
(now Sremska Mitrovica),
just west of Novi Sad,
which served as Emperor
Galerius’s capital city in
the late 3rd century. The
ethnographic diversity of
Vojvodina emerges through
a colourful display of Serb,
Hungarian and Slovak
cos tumes. There are also
painted wooden chests and
brightly decorated ceramics
in a range of traditional
folk designs.