ABOUT PETROVARADIN FORTRESS
At the beginning of the 1st century BC the area of Petrovaradin
was inhabited by the Celts, only to be replaced two centuries later by the
Romans, who raised their fortress under the name of Kusum somewhere between
the present Petrovaradin and Sremski Karlovci. At that time the Petrovaradin
rock was used as an observation post for the fortified Roman border of Limes.
This area was devastated by the Huns in the 5th century,
but their state collapsed soon after. With the fall of the Western Roan
Empire, the Byzantine Empire fortifies its borders n these protruded points
of the territory. From that time, instead of the name Kusum, we have Petrikom.
The turning point in the history of Petrovaradin is year
1235. When the Hungarian king Bela IV settled Cistercian monks from the
French region of Champagne. That is when the first larger fortress within
the parish of a Cistercian monastery was built.
In time, Petrovaradin becomes a more prominent settlement,
mostly because of the Danube crossing and fairs with visits from traders
from all over Hungary.
Tatar incursions are frequent at that time, but the real
danger was coming from the Otoman Empire. After the fall of Belgrade in
1521. Turkish invasion moved towards north-west, so the conquering of Petrovaradin
was one of the steps toward Hungary and Vienna. Fortified Petrovaradin was
seized on 27/07/1526 and the fortress will not be under attack for next
161 years, during Turkish rule, when it was adapted to an extent.
Picture 1. Copy of the blueprint of the Petrovaradin
area in the middle ages.
1687 the Austrian army takes over the fortress and starts
building a new defensive object, because of the ongoing battles in the Danube
basin and the Balkans.
After a short Turkish domination in 1690. There is peaceful
period in the life of the Petrovaradin fortress after the victory of Austrian
troops on 17/08/1691. That gives the opportunity for a systematic construction
of the present fortress. By demolishing objects from Middle Ages and ones
constructed by the Turks, 1692 began with the building of the fortress as
it looks now.
It seems that the Austrians stole the idea for the project
form the French war architect Marquis Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707),
who was one the most prominent engineers of the modern fortresses of the
17th and the 18th century, He was famous for fortresses spanning on large
areas with underground galleries (forerunner of the Magino line). With the
increase of importance of fire arms, fortified underground becomes more
strategic as well.
SPicture 2. Novi Sad and Petrovaradin, detail
from the map dated 1698
Duke Croy laid the corner stone on 18/10/1692
in the southern part of the upper fortress, on orders of the Habsburg Emperor
Leopold I. The charter was also buried then, but the exact place
is still unknown. In that way, the first bastion of the Petrovaradin fortress
was built, carrying the name of the Emperor Leopold I.
The
construction was supervised by the Prince Savoy, Count Carafa, field marshal
Kaprara and the heir to the throne Joseph. Hundred years of construction
of the Petrovaradin fortress spanned over several rulers: Leopold I, Joseph
I, Carl VI, Maria Theresa and Joseph II. First permanent garrisons were
formed in 1702, and were made up of companies of Hungarian hussars and Serbian
volunteers.
Picture 3 Bastion of the Emperor Leopold I
and the oldest construction facility within the Petrovaradin fortress.
Eight brickyards in the homestead were making bricks for
the new fortress. Bricks are larger than modern ones, and the lime was made
in limekilns near Beočin (Serbia and Montenegro).
The basis of the colossal fortress had several highlighted
parts (Upper fortress in the central part, Lower fortress towards north
- Wasserstadt, Bicorn bastion - Hornwerk in the south, the Island fortress
- Inzelšanac and the Bridgehead - Brikšanac on the opposite side of the
Danube). South-western extended part was formed on the upper fortress, so-called
Leopold?s fortress. Since the war was still going on, the Turks made a sudden
move from Belgrade and reached Petrovaradin on 11/09/1694 and commenced
a two-week siege, but could not take the fortress. As a memory to that siege,
a plaque was placed on the portal of the eastern gate in 1694 (the road
towards the "Gun turret").
Up to the beginning of the 18th century, following bastions
were also completed: Inoćent, Ludwig, Scales with additional objects. This
complex contained formed objects on the Upper and the Lower fortress, as
well as the Bicorn bastion, which covers the area towards south. On the
left bank of the Danube, the Bridgehead is being built and down the stream,
the Island fortress. The construction was ended in 1780. Urban settlement
was also built together with the fortress.
Picture 4. The Petrovaradin fortress in three
centuries: 1- Inzel ditch / the island fortress sunk in the 19th century;
2- Wasserstadt - the Water City; 3- The Upper fortress on the Petrovaradin
rock with dominant buildings; 4- Hornwerk / bicorn bastion with a Kronenwerk;
5 - Extended facility / unfinished ditches, disappeared in the earthquake
of 1726; 6 - Bridgehead on the left bank of the Danube, destroyed around
1928
During construction, one event from the war history endangered
the existence of the fortress. It was the battle at Petrovaradin on 05/08/1716
when 200,000 of Turkish soldiers led by Damad Ali-Pasha had a task to take
the fortress and continue towards the north-west. The garrison counted some
8,000 men with 70,000 men in the army camp near today's Futog (the city
of Novi Sad - Serbia and Montenegro). The commander of Austrian forces was
Eugene of Savoy.
With the construction of the pontoon bridge (1697-1698)
the fortress is connected to a fortified Bridgehead on the left bank of
the Danube. There, a settlement of some 1,000 inhabitants develops and is
called the Petrovaradin ditch. In 1699, after the peace treaty signed in
Karlovci, the number of inhabitants is growing and the settlement becomes
one of the biggest on the border between Austrian and Turkish Empire. On
01/02/1748 settlement of 4,620 people receives a charter form Maria Theresa
declaring it "A free royal town" under the name of Neoplanta, Uyvidek, Neusatz
- Novi Sad.
The last phase in the construction commenced in the 18th
century with the building of the fortress complex on the right bank of the
Danube. As a part of the Upper fortress, the following buildings are constructed:
"The long barracks", "The simple barracks", "The gun turret", or the armoury
later called Mamula. Plumbing system was also constructed, and a clock tower
on the Ludwig bastion. The clock is still working (although it is a bit
late in the winter and a bit early in the summer). Unlike other clocks,
the big hand shows hours (because of easier recognition from distance) and
the small hand less important minutes.
Four levels of the underground were constructed intensively
from 1768 to 1776 ("arrow" crossroads). The length of these subterranean
quarters is supposedly 16 km. But it seems that there is actually more.
Picture 5. The fortress and a sketch of Novi
sad area from 1697
1760 is mentioned as the year when all works were
finished, although there was some construction above and under ground for
several more years. Not all work was finished, which can be seen
from the visit to the site ( corridors with unfinished masonry work, "dirt
tunnels", short dead-end corridors etc.).
Piture 6. A sketch of an unrealised plan for
the extension of the fortification
Expanding over 112 hectares, these fortifications the second
largest in Europe. The only bigger fortress is the one at Verdun, France,
which was almost completely demolished in the WWI.
The colossal fort with its garrison could not be conquered
with the military equipment of that time, and was therefore dubbed "The
Gibraltar on the Danube". Narrow flow of the Danube under the Petrovaradin
rock contributes to this comparison.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Petrovaradin becomes
one of the safest fortresses in the empire, with 4,000 soldiers in the barracks
and 400 guns. It is interesting that valuables from the Vienna court were
kept here during Napoleon?s invasions.
The most tragic day in the history of the fortress is 12/06/1849.
Hungarian revolutionary army, led by the general Pavle Kis, used 200 cannons
to bomb Novi Sad, where royal forces were positioned. Two thirds of Novi
Sad was demolished.
Picture 7. Novi Sad bank and the fortress
around 1830
A longer period of peace returns after the defeat of Lajos
Kossuth, who emigrates on 13/08/1849. The money for the reconstruction of
the city was provided from the banks. In mid-July of 1852, Austrian Emperor
Franz Joseph, visited Novi Sad and the Petrovaradin fortress. The layout
of the city was preserved to this day.
With the Austro-Hungarian treaty from 1867 and the fall
of the Ottoman Empire, the strategic importance of the fortress is decreasing.
Fotrified Petrovaradin is becoming infamous as a prison. Former artillery
dungeon near the Belgrade Gate towards the Danube was transformed to the
military dungeon. Afterwards, civilians were also kept there, in addition
to military officers and soldiers.
During mid-19th century, there were plans to drill the
Petrovaradin rock in order to make a tunnel for the Subotica - Zemun railway.
At the same time, the first permanent bridge between Novi Sad and Petrovaradin
was built. The bridge had a footpath and it was named after the Franz Joseph,
but it was known among people just as the "Railway Bridge".
All the devastations so far missed the Petrovaradin fortress,
so that it can be considered as one of the bets preserved and most beautiful
fortifications in Europe. However, during peace time, negligence and vandalism
took their toll. Parts of the fortress become dump sites. Until 1951, the
fortress was a military facility, when the civilian authorities are taking
control of it. That was when the changes started.
In addition to damage from the last decades, numerous construction
works have been carried out, supplemented by creations of gifted artists
and scientists.
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