Petrovaradin
Petrovaradin (Serbian: Петроварадин or Petrovaradin; Croatian: Petrovaradin; Hungarian: Pétervárad; German: Peterwardein), formerly a fortified town, is part of the agglomeration of Novi Sad in Serbia and Montenegro (population 13,917 in 2002). Lying across the river Danube from the main part of Novi Sad, it features a majestic fortress known as the "Gibraltar of the Danube".
Geography
Petrovaradin is one of the two municipalities of Novi Sad City. Municipality of Petrovaradin include the town of Petrovaradin, town of Sremska Kamenica, and following villages: Bukovac, Ledinci, and Stari Ledinci.
Some of the parts of Petrovaradin town are: Podgrađe Tvrđave, Stari Majur (Old Majur), Novi Majur (New Majur), Bukovački Plato (Bukovački Put), Širine, Vezirac, Široka Dolina, Sadovi, Trandžament. The neighbouring settlements are: Mišeluk, Ribnjak and Alibegovac.
Name
Petrovaradin is believed to be the Roman Cusum. In addition, the town received its name from the Byzantines, who called it Petrikon.
The town was first mentioned under the name Petrovaradin (Pétervárad) in documents from 1237. Petrovaradin was known under the name Pétervárad under Hungarian rule, Varadin under Ottoman rule, and Peterwardein under Habsburg rule.
History
Human settlement in the territory of present-day Petrovaradin has been traced as far back as the Stone Age (about 4500 BC). This region was conquered by Celts (in the 4th century BC) and Romans (in the 1st century BC).
The Celts founded the first fortress at this location, and during the Roman rule, a larger fortress was built (in the 1st century) with the name Cusum and was included into Roman Pannonia. In the 5th century, Cusum was devastated by the invasion of the Huns.
By the end of the 5th century, Byzantines had reconstructed the town and called it by the names Cusum and Petrikon. The town was then conquered by Ostrogoths, Gepids, Avars, Franks, Bulgarians, and by Byzantines again.
The town was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary (in the 12th century), by the Ottoman Empire (in 1526), and by the Habsburg Monarchy (in 1687).
During the Ottoman rule, Petrovaradin had 200 houses, and three mosques. There was also a Christian quarter with 35 houses populated with ethnic Serbs.
Petrovaradin was the site of a major battle on August 5th, 1716 in which Eugène of Savoy defeated the forces of the Ottomans. Eugène later defeated the Ottomans at Belgrade before the Turks sued for peace at Požarevac.
During the Habsburg rule, Petrovaradin was part of the Habsburg Military Frontier (Petrovaradin regiment). In 1848/1849, the town was part of Serbian Vojvodina, but in 1849, it was returned under the administration of the Military Frontier. With the abolishment of the Military Frontier in 1881, the town was included into Croatia-Slavonia, the autonomous kingdom within Austria-Hungary.
In 1918, the town became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Between 1929 and 1941, the town was part of Dunavska banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War 2 (1941-1944), the town was occupied by the Axis Powers and it was attached to the Independent State of Croatia. Since the end of the war, the town is part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
Ethnic groups
According to the 1991 census, the population of Petrovaradin was composed of:
- Serbs = 5,643 (50%)
- Croats = 2,196 (19.45%)
- Yugoslavs = 1,893 (16.77%)
- Hungarians = 431 (3.82%)
- Montenegrins = 250 (2.22%)
- Ukrainians = 219 (1.94%)
- Others.
References
- Petrovaradin, Enciklopedija Novog Sada, knjiga 20, Novi Sad, 2002.
- Veljko Milković, Petrovaradin i Srem - misterija prošlosti, Novi Sad, 2003.
- Veljko Milković, Petrovaradin kroz legendu i stvarnost, Novi Sad, 2001.
- Veljko Milković, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - podzemlje i nadzemlje, Novi Sad, 2005.
- Radenko Gajić, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - Gibraltar na Dunavu, Sremski Karlovci, 1993.
- mr Agneš Ozer, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - vodič kroz vreme i prostor, Novi Sad, 2002.
- mr Agneš Ozer, Petrovaradin Fortress - A Guide through time and space, Novi Sad, 2002.
- Military Heritage did a feature about the Muslim Turks versus Christian Nobility 1716 battle and crusade at Peterwardein, and the success of Prince Eugene of Savoy (Ludwig Heinrich Dyck, Military Heritage, August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, pp 48 to 53, and p. 78), ISSN 1524-8666.
- Henderson, Nicholas. Prince Eugene of Savoy. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1964.
- Mckay, Derek. Prince Eugene of Savoy. London: Thames and Hudson. 1977.
- Nicolle, David and Hook, Christa. The Janissaries. Botley: Osprey Publishing. 2000.
- Setton, Kenneth M. Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. 1991.