Attractions

There are 15 public squares in Osijek, each with a different personality. Visitors can amble through Gornji Grad's 19th-century splendor in the city's northwestern quadrant to see architectural landmark buildings like the Croatian National Theater or go medieval in Tvrda, the true center of town, where the fortress created by walls and former barracks is being transformed into a hip university center with trendy restaurants and a vibrant nightlife. Donji Grad is the quietest part of town and the most residential. It is on the northeastern edge of the city along the Drava, where the Baroque pilgrimage church of Our Lady of the Snows draws attention.

Europska Avenue -- Osijek's broadest and most interesting street runs between Tvrda (the Fort) to Gornji Grad (Upper Town) and intersects several city parks in between. Europska Avenue is also the street (from Kapucinska Ulica on the north end) where affluent Austrians built their Art Nouveau mansions between 1904 and 1905. Some of these structures have been repaired and restored, but others are sadly derelict. Note the single-story building at no. 24 (now home to the town's and university's library), as well as the bronze statue in Kralja Drzislava Park. The building was a wedding gift from a wealthy citizen to his daughter. The statue was created by Robert Mihanovic in 1898 as a memorial to fallen soldiers.

Tvrda -- The partially walled former fort and center of Osijek is quickly becoming the hippest neighborhood in town. Originally built on the site of a Roman settlement, Tvrda went through a series of rulers and attacks through the ages. It became the principal city in Pannonia in the 2nd century, was captured by the Avars and rebuilt by the Croats in the Middle Ages, and leveled by Turkish forces in the 16th century. After routing the Turks in the 17th century, the Austrians rid the city of Turkish mosques and minarets and built a fortified compound incorporating the walls left over from Ottoman rule -- parts of these ancient fortifications still can be seen today. Even though Tvrda has changed hands and personalities several times, it has retained its charm and old-world feel. Contemporary Tvrda is a lovely area with cobblestone streets, lots of restaurants and galleries, and an artists' colony just inside the ramparts and the Water Gate. The Town Hall, Museum of Slavonia, and Osijek University are situated there.

Ernestinovo

Ernestinovo is a little town between Osijek and Dakovo that is known for its fall sculpture festival during which sculptors, most of them Croatian, descend on the town and carve large wooden figures that they place along the side of the road from Ernestinovo to Vinkovci. The rest of the year, a few of these large wooden figures can be seen positioned curbside throughout Ernestinovo.