OSIJEK
- CROATIA
Travel Bargain on the Drava River in Central Europe
Osijek
is not the city it once was, that is true – but a fascinating
place just the same. Once the largest city in Croatia, and the northern
center of the Ottoman Empire. Set on the Drava River near where it meets
the Danube in the eastern inland end of the county, Osijek was known
for one of the wonders of the world, an eight mile long wooden bridge
of boats built by the Suileiman the Magnificent in the 16th Century.
When the Turks were driven out, the Hapsburg’s moved in, building
the massive fortification called Tvarda, a city unto itself guarding
the wide Drava for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Osijek lost its military
importance in the 19th Century and in the post-war years, the Croatia
cities of Zagreb and the Dalmatian coast grew, leaving Osijek a rather
workaday
city of
the
socialist
era, but with impressive surviving reminders of its past.
The
fortress of Tvarda, with its great walls surrounding the former Baroque
city
within stands
as a powerful monument on the river banks.
The walls can be climbed for a view of the distant river bank where in
the 1991-1995 homeland war of Croatian Independence from Yugoslavia and
Serbia, artillery fired on the city from positions near the Copacabana,
a swimming pool and recreation park. The pock marks of bullets can still
be seen on the river facing walls. Tvarda is the main tourist spot of
Osijek by day, for its Holy Trinity Square with its 
statue dedicated
to victims of the plague which devastated the city in 1738, surrounded
by ochre colored 18th Century military barracks of the Habsburg armies
- but at night, comes alive as the city’s social center, with narrow
streets filled with hip bars and restaurants, where the sounds of pounding
rock music and chatter of young people or locals singing traditional
songs spill out into the night until the wee hours. In August, skaters
and bikers from around Europe invade the Osijek for the annual Pannonian
Challenge of in-line skating, BMX biking competitions and parties.
The broad
European Avenue which leads from the fortress to the center of the
Gornji Grad “upper city” is
lined with the Art Deco buildings with twirly haired goddesses and
post moderne gargoyles, built
by industrialist wealth before WWII, now rather having lost a bit of
luster, serving as apartments or offices along the boulevard. Osijek
had the first electric tram systems in this part of Europe in 1926 and
old style tram cars with tour passengers still trundle on tracks through
the center of the historic upper town. A mix of a colorful past, with
new thriving shops in historic imperial buildings surrounding the
bronze image of the socialist worker and modern
waterdance
fountains
in the
main square near
the red brick
neo-gothic
church of
St Peter
and
Paul.
The
forests and woods which surround Osijek are full of deer, wild boar
and game sought by hunters, with ample opportunity for camping and, hiking
and biking. The Kopaki Rit Nature Park is accessable by car or boat.
The riverfront promenade of the Osijek in front of the upscale Osijek
Hotel is lined with boats and floating restaurants. The Osijek Hotel
is where journalists covering the 1990s war were famously shelled during
the conflict.
It has been fully renovated and its upper floor windows allow a view
of the wide river Drava glistening with the rising sun. Across the river,
is the Zoo Hotel near the city zoo.
Osijek is about 3 hours by car from Zagreb on the A3, which stops a little short of the city, with country road continuing to the city. New highways are being built through this area making it easier to reach by car from Hungary and the Adriatic coast. By air Osijek’s Klisa Airport is served from Bonn-Cologne by the discount airline German Wings, with connections to London and Zurich and twice a week flights from Split and Dubrovnik. Croatia uses the local krona as currency with exchange rates around 5 kn to the dollar and 7 kn to the Euro. As a less popular destination than the crowed coastal cities, Osijek and Croatia can make for a bargain discovery of a lesser known region with a remarkable history and lively social scene. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Osijek
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SEE ALSO:
VARAZDIN - CROATIA'S BAROQUE CITY LITTLE VIENNA
ZRINSKI CASTLE - MUSEUM MEDIMURJE CAKOVEC
VINARIJA HOTEL - WINE TOURING SLAVONIA
MAILATH CASTLE OF DONJI MIHOLJAC
