Durdevac Old Town

Durdevac's Stari Grad is a brick fortress of the sixteenth century built on marshy ground in the Drava plain, one of the few surviving lowland fortifications of the military frontier, rebuilt over the centuries and restored as a cultural centre with a gallery of naive art from the Podravina. The story attached to it is the Picokijada: with the town besieged and starving, an old woman is said to have had the last cockerel fired from a cannon into the Ottoman camp, convincing the besiegers that the town had food to waste, and they left. The town holds a festival each June built around it, and the cockerel is on the coat of arms.

What you actually see

• A brick lowland fortress - sixteenth century, on marshy ground.
• The cockerel legend - the last bird fired at the besiegers.
• The Picokijada festival - held each June around the story.
• A naive art gallery - Podravina painting inside the walls.

When to go

April to October; June for the festival. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The fortress is restored and used as a cultural venue rather than presented as a monument. The town is small and plain. Outside the festival there is little else to do. English interpretation is limited.

Nearby

Hlebine and its painters are west; the Durdevac sands are just outside town.