Climbing the stairs to reach the terrace of Petrovaradin Fortress, which overlooks the Danube and the city of Novi Sad on other side of the river, Bojana Karavidic’s face becomes grim. “Heritage means identity and the authorities should never do this,” she says.

Bojana Karavidic, Suburbium

She is referring to last December’s decision by the city of Novi Sad to build a new bridge over the Danube and expand an old tunnel, disused for decades, into a four-lane highway running under the fortress.

Bojana, a woman in her forties, is dedicated to the old Habsburg-era landmark, which dates back to the days when Serbia’s northern Vojvodina province formed part of Austria-Hungary, and eight years ago she established Suburbium as an NGO to raise people’s consciousness about it and the lower town beneath.

She fears that if the plan goes ahead, and is finished in following years, as is planned, the face of the old fortress will be changed for the worse. Possible casualties include such historic sites as the Great War Well, the promenade and an old military graveyard, she says.

Another unintended consequence of the plan, she adds, is that Petrovaradin Fortress will have less chance of being included in future on UNESCO’s lists of world heritage protected. Addition to the UN list would be a big boost for the city as well as the fortress.

Local archeologists, curators and NGOs share her worries. They are especially disappointed that several leading local public institutions have given the plan a green light.

Many expected the Culture Heritage Preservation Institute from Novi Sad to voice protest. But it didn’t, which some attribute to its dependence on budget money from the city.

“Leading architects and conservators (from public institutions) share the same opinion as NGO activists, which is that expanding the tunnel could be damaging,” Karavidic says.

“But they only tell us that ‘off the record’ because they fear for their positions,” she adds.


Milan Ceran, director of the Culture Heritage Preservation Institute, defended his institute stance.

“A study (from Novi Sad University) shows that expanding the tunnel is not going to damage the fortress, and it was owing to that that we gave it our permission,” he said.

Meanwhile the city fathers of Novi Sad have their own considerations. An ever-growing traffic jam is forcing them to find new ways to ease vehicle congestion, and the bridge and tunnel appear the most convenient solution.

The site of the old Franz Joseph bridge

The bridge will be built on the site of the old Franz Joseph bridge, named after the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, which was renamed in the 1930s after King Aleksandar of Yugoslavia. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the Yugoslav Army destroyed it in 1941.

However, the old bridge’s concrete supports remain, and will be used to lessen the costs of the new bridge, officials say.

In addition, Novi Sad’s mayor, Igor Pavlicic, member of Serbia’s ruling Democratic Party, says widening the tunnel will allow the city to shift the main traffic route away from the old lower town of Petrovaradin. This area will then be renovated and preserved.

Finally, the City of Novi Sad says it commissioned the University of Novi Sad to produce the study referred to earlier, which says that expanding the tunnel road to four lanes will not damage the fortress.

Igor Pavlicic, Mayor of Novi Sad

“The Novi Sad University study concluded that in five years’ time the city will have critical problems in terms of traffic flow between the two river banks,” the mayor told Balkan Insight, in a letter.

“Therefore, construction of this corridor is necessary. Given the complexity of the traffic routes, bridge and tunnel, the study suggests separate pavements with two lanes. Therefore, we need four lanes through tunnel,” the mayor’s letter added. 

The City Development Institute of Novi Sad, the body that drew up the project for the new bridge and tunnel, also defends the project.

In a written letter to Balkan Insight, it said that analysis by the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad “showed that expansion of the tunnel is technically possible. That study also showed that effective protection of fortress is possible during and after construction of the road.

“We will start with construction as soon as city provides the funds,” the letter concluded.

The fortress dates back to the 1690s, when Habsburg armies reclaimed Croatia and Hungary, of which Vojovodina was part, from the Ottoman Empire. Work on it finished in the 1780s.

Deemed an exceptional work of 18th-century fortification and engineering, it is one of the largest, most complex and best-preserved artillery bastions in Southeast Europe.

Today it hosts many artists studios and festivals, and comes under an annual spotlight as the centre of the annual EXIT music festival, which draws famous groups and young fans from all over the world.



In 1991 Petrovaradin was added to list of Serbian Spatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great Importance. It is waiting to be moved higher onto Serbia’s “A” list of top priority historic sites.

For many years activists, as well as the local authorities have lobbied for the addition of the fortress to UNESCO’s list of world sites.

Now there are fears that this might not happen, says the city’s leading architect and conservator, Slobodanka Babic, of the Culture Heritage and Preservation Institute of Novi Sad. But, she insists that she is only expressing her opinion which is not official stance of her institution.

“The plan could be fatal for efforts to place the fortress under UNESCO protection”, she maintains. “Such drastic changes to the fortress and the surroundings could change the total identity and devastate the object.

“We should learn from example of the Elba valley in Dresden, which has been excluded from the UNESCO list because of the construction of a (new) bridge.

“Expanding the tunnel could violate the authentic appearance of the fortress. If authorities want to see it put under UNESCO protection they should leave the original look of the fortress alone,” Babic concludes.

Officials disagree. Mayor Pavlicic was quoted as saying in April that “not enough money has been invested in the fortress for many years for it to get on the UNESCO list”.

The Great War Well

Expert concerns centre on the promenade, an ancient well and a grave site. The old promenade could be undermined by digging work underneath it, they say. The same work could also affect the 18th-century “Great War Well”, which is 60 metres deep and seen as a rare engineering undertaking. 

This year, Museum of Novi Sad, which is based in Petrovaradin, is planning to connect its building to the well by opening up a walkway for visitors.

Radovan Bunardzic, curator and archaeologist at the museum, is concerned. “At first we thought the project for the road through the tunnel would have only two lanes, but the current plan envisages four, expanding the tunnel,” Bunardzic said. “The Great War Well is very old and fragile and such work could cause it to deteriorate”.

Of major concern also is the military graveyard positioned at the tunnel’s exit. It is expected that the road leaving the tunnel will intrude into part of the site, which remains unmarked but was earmarked for future preservation.

Babic describes it as one of the region’s largest military cemeteries, home to about 10,000 graves. “It could be ruined,” she says. “The decision should be revised also because the tunnel was built in 1884 and itself represents a great technical achievement”.

Bojana Karavidic is also not giving up.  She says that her organization is going to set up online forum so that citizens of Novi Sad can discus the plan. “If together we show how important this is, something can be done,” she maintains.

This article is funded under the BICCED project, supported by the Swiss Cultural Programme.