In order to reach the Petrovaradin fortress on foot, you will need to climb 214 steps.
After climbing the 214 steps from the foothills and the church of St. George, don’t worry if you reach the top of the Petrovaradin fortress out of breath. When you see the magnificent panorama of Novi Sad on one side and the famous giant clock on the other, along the beautiful blue Danube, you will immediately forget the fatigue and the ascent, and the fortress will inspire you to continue walking around it.
It was built by the Austrians from 1692 to 1780 to protect themselves from enemies on the Vojvodina plain, which is why we often call it Gibraltar on the Danube.
As beautiful as it is from the outside as a military fortress, it is as mysterious below the surface, where you can descend several floors on foot, but only with a specialised guide. Under Petrovaradin, there are 20-kilometre-long secret passages and corridors used by the armies that stayed here, even a well, and the catacombs go up to 3 metres below the Danube! Is there a passage under the Danube to downtown Novi Sad? This is an eternal puzzle. We will leave it to you to discover at the fortress itself.
On the famous clock on the fortress, the small hand shows the minutes and the large hand shows the hours, and it rushes in the summer and is late in the winter
Coffee, lunch or a treat? There is no excuse not to try kuglof with nuts, raisins or chocolate, which came here from abroad, or poppy seed strudel, especially with a wonderful view of the Danube from one of the restaurants.
Painting studios are lined up along the ramparts, side by side. Peek into their world and the artists will often personally welcome you into their creative corner. A special attraction is the driftwood art, works of art made of wood from the Danube. These are the most sought-after souvenirs made from recycled materials.
If you’re lucky, you might catch a watchmaker hand-winding the famous tower clock. While you look at the hands of the popular “drunken clock”, a gift from the Austrian empress Maria Theresa to Novi Sad, whose small hand shows the minutes and large hand the hours, and which rushes in the summer and is late in the winter, this will be a good moment to plan a new visit to Petrovaradin fortress: maybe in summer when it is the venue of the most famous popular music festival, Exit.