The panorama of Novi Sad
Novi Sad is a town of broad boulevards, wonderful buildings surrounded by parks and green spaces, tidy streets and numerous spots for fun and relaxation. With its 400.000 inhabitants, the town found its place by the left Danube River bank, in south Bačka.
The growth of the Petrovaradin fortress was followed by the extension of a settlement on the opposite side of the Danube River, called by numerous names – Neoplanta, Ujvidek, Neusatz, only to receive its current name on February 1st 1748 – Novi Sad. On this particular date its inhabitants paid a sum of 95.000 Forint to the Court of Vienna to receive a status of a royal free town. On this occasion the Empress Maria Theresa presented the town with an official name and coat of arms. Against the blue background the three massive fortresses stand above the river, which is flowing over a green field. Above the fortresses are a Noah’s dove and a Latin inscription Sigillum Regiae Liberaeque Civitatis Neoplantensis – Stamp of the free royal town of Novi Sad.
The Novi Sad coat of arms
During the Revolution of 1848/49 the town was bombed and destroyed. With some strange strength it was renewed in a combination of Baroque and other architectural styles, and had risen to be called “the Serbian Athens” in the second half of the 19th century.
Since it became the centre of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina during the socialist period, Novi Sad stands as the political, economical, cultural, educational and every other centre of Serbia’s northern province. It is a University town, and also media centre in five languages: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian and Rusin, which never existed anywhere in Europe. It is also a town of festivals for children, young and old with numerous manifestations like Zmaj children’s games, Sterija theatre, NOMUS, and the latest EXIT fest. A town of culture stands out with it’s libraries, museums and galleries. The legendary Janika Balaž and the composer Sava Vukosavljev made the tamburitza music become another important symbol of Novi Sad.
SPENS
Here the health services are one of the top priorities, to what an enormous gratitude we owe to the Cardiovascular Institute of Sremska Kamenica and to the Medicine Faculty, which has given numerous scientists and experts. On the other hand, thanks to the experts of the Agricultural Institute in Novi Sad new sorts of internationally acknowledged sorts of wheat and corn are being produced. Also one of the symbols of Novi Sad is the Fair with many international manifestations, of which of course, the Agricultural fair deserves to be mentioned first.
Novi Sad is all that, and much more. It is also a sports centre, in which in 1790 a Town’s archery society was formed, in 1872 a rowing and firefighting society, that developed into the rowing company Danubius in 1885. At the very beginning of the First World War in 1914 the second oldest football club in former Yugoslavia, football club “Vojvodina” was formed in Novi Sad. It got its own stadium in 1924 which stands even today in its original place. Next to it an object of capital importance for the town was finished in 1981. This attractive late 20th century modern building is the Sports and Business Centre Vojvodina, commonly known as SPENS. It covers 65.000 m² and is a part of a 20 acre complex, with tennis courts, swimming pool, skating rank, and two separate halls for basketball, volleyball or handball.
Novi Sad has always been a town of good and hardworking people.
Welcome to Novi Sad, welcome to Serbian Athens, a beautiful town, where the cheerful people will greet You with open heart, honestly and friendly.
