Karlovci - town from the poem

I visited yesterday Sremski Karlovci, small place in the north of Serbia, but full of history, culture and beautiful nature. There you can find a lot of different influence of other cultures because a lot of nations lived and build Karlovci.  

Monument of Branko Radicevic SOURSE

The town was first mentioned in historical documents in 1308 with the name Karom. The fortress of Karom was built on the ruins of the ancient Roman one. Until that time, to present this city played one of the major role in the history of Serbia. The age of his greatest ascent is in XVII and XVIII century. In that period  an Orthodox seminary was also founded in the town: it was the second oldest Orthodox seminary in the world  and it is still in existence. 

Central church in Karlovci, SOURCE

In Karlovci is also the first Serbian gymnasium and one the first gymnasium in the Europe. In this gymnasium is collected now more than 18.000 books, including older and rare books.  The school's first organizer and teacher was Maksim Suvorov, a Russian scholar and educator, sent by Empress Caterine I to open the Latin Gymnasium. That was important period for serbian culture because before that time, we didnt have organised school life. Famous pupils in Gymnasium of Karlovci, was significant figures of Serbian history, including Sima Milutinovic Sarajlija, Branko Radicevic, Jovan Sterija Popovic. 

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One of the most important events in the history of Karlovci was the day of proclamation of Serbian Vojvodina.  The first capital of Serbian Vojvodina was in Karlovci, until it was latter moved to Zemun. 

Central Church in Karlovci is very interesting because it was decorated by one of the great serbian baroque painter Teodor Kracun. He died by painting the inside of the temple. The temple is painted in a typical baroque style, with a lot of strong colors.

Patriarchate Court in Karlovci, SOURCE

Maybe the most beautiful place in Karlovci is Patriarchate Court  a  historical building which was the seat of the Patriarchate between 1848 and 1920.  Construction of the palace in the style of Italian palaces was entrusted to contractors Peklo Bela and Karlo Lerer. Royal Chapel was painted by Uros Predic, famous Serbian painter. The basis of the palace is in the form of the cyrillic letter S.  A terrace and front entrance where the stairs to the side of stone sculptures set of two lions. There is a beautiful garden, with a lot of flowers and threes. 

One of the oldest tavern in Karlovci SOURCE

The most famous poet of Karlovci and one of the grates serbian poet is Branko Radicevic. He wrote beautiful poems about this place. He devoted his most beautiful song to Karlovci. At the entrance to the gymnasium there is his monument. He can be some kind of poetic protector of this small bur really important place. 

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After all those temples, churches and building, I sat down under the one big three and there I just felt what the history is. It is in the memory of branches and bark of three, not in the stones and painting. It is more in the spirit of people and ghost of past times who are walking across these quiet streets.