11 Reasons to Visit Osijek, Croatia

Once its own separate entity, Osijek’s Habsburg-built Upper Town (Gornji Grad) on the south bank of the Drava contains the bulk of the city’s main streets and landmarks. The grandiose Europska avenija, the Croatian National Theatre and the Church of St Peter and St Paul are all found here within a short stroll of each other. Cafés and restaurants abound, should you want a break from all the sightseeing.

Europska avenija, Osijek, Croatia

Upper Town | © the third dream/Flickr

Just outside Osijek with tours sold in town, Kopački rit is a birdwatcher’s paradise, a large expanse of wetlands where the Danube and Drava rivers converge. Accessible by rowing boat, on foot across a series of boardwalks and even on horseback, this popular nature reserve contains kingfishers, wild geese and white-tailed eagles, as well as catfish, pike and perch, and pine martens, wild boar and wild cats. The reserve lies on the path of many migration routes, making autumn the best time to visit.

Kopački rit, Kopačevo, Croatia

Kopački rit | © texx1978/Flickr

Trg Ante Starčevića, known by locals as simply Trg, the Square, is the centrepiece showcase of Osijek. Named after Ante Starčevića, the 19th-century politician whose monument stands here, the square is in fact a triangle, with the city’s most notable church dominating one corner. Towering over the public fountain, a main meeting place, the neo-Gothic Church of St Peter and St Paul, is visible all around the city and a point of reference for first-time visitors as they explore Osijek.

Trg Ante Starčevića, Osijek, Croatia

Trg Ante Starčevića | © Nick Savchenko/Flickr

The main attraction within the Tvrđa fortress complex, the Museum of Slavonia was established as long ago as 1877. The permanent collection runs chronologically, through the centuries starting with from prehistory and the Roman era. Look out for the temporary exhibitions such as displays of Habsburg-era photographs when Osijek was an important outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The building itself, the former Vienna Chamber dating back to 1702, is also worth a look around.

Museum of Slavonia, Trg Svetog Trojstva 6, Osijek, Croatia, +385 31 250 731

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A Baroque military landmark fashioned in the classic Habsburg shape of a star, the Tvrđa fortress was initially built shortly after the Turks were first driven out of Osijek, their brief but dangerous return prompting swift completion in the early 1700s. A military complex for nearly 200 years, the bastion saw many of its walls taken down in the 1920s. Today, its criss-cross of streets and many wings house school and college buildings, numerous bars and restaurants and the Museum of Slavonia. It’s residential too, home to some 10,000 citizens.

Tvrđa, Osijek, Croatia

Tvrđa | © the third dream/Flickr

The waterfront holds few surprises until you get to walk past the Caffé Bar Bounty and, where Šetalište Kardinala Franje Šepera meets Ulica Vjekoslava Hengla, find a statue of Pablo Picasso. Sitting, stripped down to his shorts as he liked to paint, this particular likeness has him balancing on a narrow pedestal, his hands spread as if he were about to fall – or plunge into the Drava. Its creator was Ivan Sabolić, former dean at Zagreb’s Academy of Fine Arts, who died in 1986, shortly after the statue’s completion.

Šetalište Kardinala Franje Šepera 8A, Osijek, Croatia

Picasso statue | © Martin Alvarez Espinar/Flickr

A monument to the dynamism of influential bishop, politician and cultural initiator Josip Juraj Strossmayer, the neo-Gothic Church of St Peter and St Paul stands a towering 90 metres (295 feet) over the city. Osijek-born Strossmayer instigated its construction shortly before his death in 1905, Mirko Rački’s frescoed interior completed nearly four decades later. The main feature within is the striking stained-glass windows, the backdrop to the altars, equally fashioned in neo-Gothic style.

Close to today’s border with Serbia, Osijek sustained heavy damage, as well as significant loss of life, during the first stage of the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s. One particularly dramatic incident was when one tank rolled over the little red Fiat car (‘Fićo’) of a local citizen, screened on the news later that day. In more recent times, a monument was erected and the car placed on top of the tank to symbolize the city’s triumph over its aggressor.

Fićo Monument, Kneza Trpimira 4, Osijek, Croatia