Zmaj Jovina Street, Novi Sad

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This is the main street in Novi Sad and it is a pedstrian zone. It was named after a famous, predominantly childrens, poet Jovan Jovanovic-Zmaj (Dragon). He was also known as Uncle Jova. Zmaj was a medical doctor, but suffered a gread tragedy in his life. His wife and children had died due to TB epidemics.

Zmaj Jovina is one of the main streets in the Old City and is a very fun, chic place to spend time. The street is lined with various cafés and boutiques, and looks much more like a typical Italian town than the cracked pavements and depressing apartment blocks on the outskirts of the old town lead you to believe. The street is named for the poet Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj and its most important building is, without a doubt, at the very end of the street – the Bishop’s Palace (Vladichevski Dvor).

Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj is a Serbian poet from Novi Sad. He was born in 1833 and completed his elementary schooling in Novi Sad, but later went to complete his high school years in Bratislava. He had originally studied law in the various Imperial capitals, but had decided to abandon this stream to dedicate himself more fully to his poetry. He wrote for various poetic and literary magazines, and also for political publications, before returning to University to complete a medical degree in the 1870s. He practiced as a doctor while continuing his literary work. Zmaj helped to further the development of modern Serbian cultural identity. For this, he is commemorated by a statue in a street of his own name in his home city, Novi Sad.

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The Orthodox Cathedral, or the Pravoslavna Saborna Crkva, is one of the oldest and most beautiful churches in all of central Novi Sad. The Catholic Church can sometimes feel a bit staid and stuffy – almost too Western. The Orthodox Cathedral certainly borrows many elements from Central European, especially Baroque, architecture, but it nevertheless feels so much more open and airy. There is a spectacular iconostasis inside this church, which was first constructed in the 1740s and then rebuilt in the latter half of the 19th century, after large-scale destruction following the riots of the 1848 Revolution. The large marble cross out front was originally in front of the Bishop’s Palace, and was moved here. There is a pretty garden around the church, and you can freely wander in and out of the building to admire it. The white stone of the building helps introduce a more Eastern, Byzantine feel, contrasting with the more austere Western sects’ places of worship.

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The Bishop’s Palace in Novi Sad is a beautiful rose-coloured building that sits at the end of Zmaj Jovina. The building was first discussed in 1849 (because the original Bishop’s Palace was closer to the Danube), but agreement on it was not reached until 1899, and thus this building was erected only in 1901. The style of the façade is a mixture of academic and romantic, which helps to create a very Hapsburg, Central European feel – one that almost makes you forget that this is the office of the Orthodox and not the Catholic Bishop (the seat of the latter Church official is in Subotica). The large marble cross that is now in front of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, only steps from the Bishop’s Palace, used to be here in front of the Palace. I don’t know if you can enter the Bishop’s Palace to take a look around the interior – frankly, I didn’t try – but it nevertheless provides a nice architectural backdrop for coffee or ice cream at one of the cafés that line Zmaj Jovina.

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This beautiful building is the residence of Serbian Orthodox Bishop of the Eparchy of Backa.
It was built in 1901 according to the plans of Vladimir Nikolic. The decorations on the building were made by Julia Anika. You can see 3 coats-of-arms of the Eparchy, too.

In front of the building, there's the monument to our famous poet, Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj.