The best preserved fortress in the Balkans is in Nis

Niš Fortress, in Serbian Nishka Twirba, is an important historical site in Niš (Serbia), protected by UNESCO as the world cultural heritage.

The fortress is located on the right bank of the Nishava River on a low hill connected by a wide bridge over the river with the city center. The existing Ottoman fortress stands on the remains of an ancient Roman, then Byzantine and medieval fortress. That is, this hill has always been a fortification, it is just that each new government took it into its own hands and reworked it to fit its needs.

Nis fortress has the shape of a polygon, which form the fortress walls, with eight bastions and four massive gates. The fortress has an area of 22 hectares.

Specifically, what we see now was built by the Turks in the early 18th century and is the largest and well-preserved fortress in the Balkans. The walls, over two kilometers long, reach a height of eight meters, and their thickness reaches three meters. This fortress was built on the foundation of the ancient city Nais, where Constantine the Great and Constantius III were born.

In the past, Nishka Tyrba was surrounded by a moat, but today it is preserved only from the north side. The walls of the south and west are also well preserved.

Within the Niš fortress, tourists can see the Arsenal of 1857, the restored mosque of 1521 (Bali Begov Jamia), which now houses an art gallery, the building of the Historical Archive, a lapidary that has preserved many ancient monuments and inscriptions, Turkish hamam and other sights. Today Niš Fortress is a city park - a pleasant place to walk at any time of the year.