BAČ FORTRESS - Bač

Bač used to be a glorious city after which this whole fertile plain between Danube and Tisa got its name, Bačka. The territory of Municipality of Bač was under fire of many peoples, cultures and civilizations during different historical periods, and the marks of these turbulences can be seen on every step. During some construction works in Bač the remains of an old civilization were found, and it was established that they originate from the Stone Age. The first written traces of Bač and the territory around it originate even from the period of Justinian, when the ruler of Constantinople and the Emperor of The Eastern Roman Empire mentioned Bač in his letter in 535. The Arabian geographer and travel writer Idrisi finished his “Geography” in 1154, in which he mentioned Bač as an important and significant town, rich with merchants, manufacturers and Greek scholars, the place where fairs used to be held. Ten years later, in 1164, during war operations between Byzantine and Hungary, the Byzantine Emperor Manojlo Komnen forced his way across Danube to Bač. In the 12th century, Bač underwent a great rise. During that period the great fortress was mentioned in the written documents for the first time. It went through a couple of destructions and restorations, and its remains represent a challenge for explorers and tourists even today. In the 14th century common incursions of Turks and many forays against Turks started from Bač. During the battle near Mohač, Bač also sent their cavalry. However, the breach of the Turkish army had not been stopped, so in 1526, after the battle near Mohač and the fall of Belgrade, Bač was conquered as well. The fortress had for a long period been defended by Despot Stefan Berisavljević. The Fortress of Bač is the oldest medieval fortress in Vojvodina. According to some chronicles on the place of today’s fortress, in 873 there was an ancient Avar fortification. In 1241, the fortress and the town were conquered by Mongols, so they build their own fortification. Current fortress was built in the period between 1338 and 1342, during the reign of Hungarian King Karl Robert Angevin, when the rectangular tower was built as a significant defense point of the town. The fortress lays on a small knap and it was surrounded on all sides by water from the river Mostonga, which riverbed is noticeable even today. The fortress was entered by a wooden drawbridge. In the period after the battle of Mohač, in 1529 the town and the fortress fell under Turkish rule, and then Bač becomes the part of Szeged sandžak and Buda pashadom. During the Rebellion of Rakocijeve between 1703 and 1711, the fortress was demolished to a great extent; it was damaged, burnt and forsaken. The fortress in its base has an irregular shape, and the massive deteriorated walls uncover towers on four sides and one front commanding tower in the center (so called Donjon), which is 22m high and was used as an important part of defense system as a watchtower. The Bač Fortress represents one of the most convincing witnesses of the rich history of Municipality of Bač, and it is undoubtedly an extraordinary valuable monument of medieval culture.