Petrovaradin Fortress, Петроварадин Novi Sad Yugoslavia June 2017

The NATO bombing left the city without all of its three Danube bridges, communications, water, and electricity, which severely impaired the day to day living of the residents of Novi Sad. All bridges were not rebuilt before 2005 and one of the rebuilt bridges is only a temporary solution. Some residential areas were damaged by cluster bombs.
Water supplies (including drinking water) for parts of the city were cut off as a result of the bombing. One attack cut off water supplies to 40,000 people in Petrovaradin, and severely disrupted water supplies to 300,000 people in Novi Sad. [4] Services were restored only after two years, partially due to funding from Britain, one of the countries which sent planes to bomb the city in 1999.

In 1991 Petrovaradin Fortress was added to Spatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great Importance list, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.
Recent archeological discoveries have offered a new perspective not only on the history of Petrovaradin, but on the entire region. At the Upper Fortress, the remains of an earlier Paleolithic settlement dating from 19,000 to 15,000 BC has been discovered. With this new development it has been established that there has been a continuous settlement at this site from the Paleolithic age to the present. During the excavations carried out in 2005, archeologists also discovered another significant find. Examining remains from the early Bronze age (c. 3000 BC), ramparts were discovered which testify that already at that time a fortified settlement existed at the Petrovaradin site.

The first larger fortifications were created with the arrival of the Romans who built the fortress (Cusum) which was a part of the fortified borders (Limes) along the Danube.
The turning point in the history of the area came in 1235 AD when King Bela IV of Hungary brought a group of the Order of Cistercians from France. This order of monks built the monastery Belakut upon the remains of the Roman fortress of Cusum. The walls of this monastery were built between 1247 and 1252 and represent the fortifications at this site during the Middle Ages.

The fortress was strengthened due to the threat of Turkish invasion. However the fortress fell after a two-week siege in 1526.
The Austrian Army captured Petrovaradin after 150 years of Turkish control during the Great Turkish War in 1687. The Austrians began to tear down the old fortress and build new fortifications according to contemporary standards.
In 1692, the Hofkriegsrath ordered engineers to Petrovaradin to investigate the area in order to build a new fortress. Count Keysersfeld received both financial and personnel support.
The first plans for the fortress were designed by the engineer Colonel Count Mathias Keyserfeld, and afterwards by Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1659–1730). The works in the field were led by the engineer Colonel Michael Wamberg who died in 1703 and was buried in the church of the Franciscan monastery which today serves as part of the present day military hospital.
On September 9, 1694, the Grand Vizier Sürmeli Ali Paşa arrived at Petrovaradin Fortress from Belgrade. A siege of 23 days was laid on, however poor weather conditions in October forced the Turkish forces to retreat towards Belgrade with their task left unfinished.
The victory of the Austrians under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy at Senta on September 11, 1697 resulted in creating the conditions for the conclusion of the peace at Karlowitz in 1699.
A new war with the Turks was imminent. The Austrian lack of interest in war, plus the war reparations suggested by the Austrians to the Turks in the interest of the Venetian Republic all served as reasons for the renewal of Turkish aggression towards Austria. In order to prepare for the upcoming battle, Prince Savoy ordered the concentration of Austrian troops around Futog under the temporary command of Count Johann Pálffy. Prince Eugene arrived personally on July 9. The entire Austrian army numbered 76,000 troops. In the meantime, the Turkish army concentrated 150,000 troops at Belgrade. The decisive battle between the Austrian and Turkish armies took place on August 5, 1716 at Petrovaradin. The Austrians were led by Prince Eugene and the Turks were under the command of Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha. The victory of the Austrian army signaled the end of the Turkish threat to central Europe.
After the completion of the Petrovaradin Fortress, there was never any further threat from Turkish forces. The last offensive military role the fortress was to play was during the Hungarian Revolution in 1849, when Austrian troops tried to force the Fortress to surrender after a blockade.
During the following period, the fortress served as a military barracks and storage facility. Following World War I, Petrovaradin became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Later known as Yugoslavia).