The Baroque Town
Sremski Karlovci, located in the foot of the only mountain in Vojvodina, the Fruska Gora, are remembered for the good wine, architecture or cultural monuments, but also for the interesting stories from the rich history of the Serbian people.
Spiritual, cultural and educational center
Just 11 km from Novi Sad and 57 km from Belgrade, the quaint city of Sremski Karlovci has been the spiritual, cultural and educational center of Serbia for over 200 years. The city is accessible via car or the Romance (Romantika) Train originating in Belgrade.
The baroque style buildings surrounding the fountain in the town center are of immense importance to Serbian history and culture.
Assembly Church of Saint Nicholas dating from 1762 is known for masterpiece iconostas and represents the peak of Baroque artistic achievement in Vojvodina. The Patriarchy Palace, the residence of the Srem District Episcope, is considered to be Vojvodina’s most remarkable 19th century building.
According to legend, whoever drinks water from the 1799 Four Lions Well will return to Sremski Karlovci. Serbia’s oldest gymnasium is located here. The area’s vineyards add to its quaint character and beautiful scenery.
One of the oldest places in Vojvodina
Sremski Karlovci represents one of the oldest places in Vojvodina, as remnants of Neolithic settlements were discovered there. The oldest written records of this town, situated in the immediate vicinity of Novi Sad, date back to 1308. The first mention of the name Sremski Karlovci appears in the mid 16th century, but only at the end of the next century did the town begin to prosper and later became the residence of the Karlovac Metropolitan. Sremski Karlovci remained for a long time the residence of the Serbian Patriarch. Several important churches and church buildings, seven of them, have survived. The oldest, so-called Lower Church was built in 1712. In the churchyard there is still an old plane tree planted at the same time when the foundations of the church were laid and believed to be the oldest of its kind in Europe. As to original edifices, the oldest are the Upper Church and the Orthodox Cathedral.
Sremski Karlovci is also interesting because every house in the center of the town has its own story. Either someone important was born or lived in it, or it was the center of an important national institution. The oldest and most beautiful buildings have been preserved on the square, which bears the name of the poet Branko Radicevic who immortalized this town with his beautiful Romantic verse. We should mention that the first Serbian grammar school was established here in 1771, and two decades later the first Serbian academy of theology.
Winegrowing heaven
Sremski Karlovci belongs to a fertile winegrowing region of Vojvodina. The vine plant was first brought from Sicily by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus in 273 AD. Since then the growing of vines has become an important economic potential of this town. Especially numerous were the types of red grapes from which the famous ausbruch and bermet wine served even at the court in Vienna, and sold at stock markets in Rotterdam and London as an exclusive beverage. The dedication of the local population to vineyards and wine has been lasting for centuries, and today almost every household makes their own wine from their own vineyards, and as often pointed out for the visitors of the town, it should be tasted.
Our warmest recommendation is a Bermet wine, famous dessert wine produced from medicinal herbs and spices, which goes great with home-made dessert “kuglof”.