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My Osijek
Mysterious Tvrdja
In ancient times there was a town where Osijek is today. Celts and Normans called it Mursa. Later, in 1196., it was mentioned as Eszek in Hungarian and Esseg in German historical records.
In the summer of 1526. soldiers of powerful Turkish Empire occupied Osijek. They built a fortress and a wooden bridge, called Suleiman's bridge, across the River Drava. Osijek had many merchants and craftsmen. It had about a thousand shops, more than two thousand houses and about 15 thousand inhabitants.
In 1687. Osijek became the part of Habsburgh Monarchy. They decided to build a new fortress, because the town was in a very good position on the River Drava and near the River Danube. The builders demolished the parts of old fortress. They moved the inhabitants east and west from it. This is when Upper town and Down town were formed.
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