Peturnarada, Petunvarod, Peter Warad, Petrode Waradino, Petro Varadinum, Petervarad

— the town is situated on the right bank of the Danube, so it geographically does not belong to the Bačka County.  Yet historians consider Petrovaradin to be not only a settlement older than Novi Sad on the Bačka side of the Danube but also the strategical/military reason why the new settlement on the marshy land along the Danube's left bank. Knowledgeable people called Petrovaradin "the Gibraltar on the Danube". Several historical data are worth mentioning and recording:

In the year 1200, the landlord of the area where the settlement sprang up was a Gurwey (Turwey), and his son Petar/Peter after whom the fort (vár) was named inherited it. That is the opinion of I. Ivanyi, and King Béla IV signed a document in villa Peturvarad in  1230. In all likelihood, the turning point in the history of the settlement took place in 1235, when the said king, probably following his mother's will, brought Cistercians (monks from the French province of Champagne, the monastery of Troix Fontaine) to settle within the royal fortress. Within the fort's territory, the monks erected an abbey which they named 'White Fountain' (Belakut). Two years later (1237) King Béla IV also granted to the abbey the estates in Syrmia and the Bačka owned until then by the Zhupan of Csanad Peter Torofi, as well as Petrovaradin with the royal palace and all incomes, aits, forests, waters, both fertile and unfarmed soil, and the villages of Zajol/ /Zoyl (Sajlovo), Bivoljaš (Byvolou) and the barren area of Čemely/Chemey (Čenej).

Gradually and successfully, Petrovaradin kept prospering, certainly owing also to the ferry across the Danube and to the fairs held in it. Merchants from all over Hungary would come there, and Petrovaradin was quite often referred to as Vásárosvárad (vásar meaning 'fair' in Hungarian).

It seems that before 1241 the Cistercian Abbey had not been on the hill, on the rock – the site of the extant upper town, but in a nearby valley. In all likelihood, the Abbey was relocated onto the rock subsequent to the Tatar campaign – for  the reasons of easier defence primarily, and partly also in order to control the road of exceptional importance.

Writers think that the decisive moment with regard to building a fortified castle on the steep rock  on the right bank of the Danube (today's Petrovaradin Fortress) was a 1247 letter of Pope Innocent IV wherein he appealed on the bishops to protect the country against a new inrush of the Tatars. It is certain that the Cistercians of the said abbey erected the majestic and safe fort they named Petrovaradin. Namely, in a lexicographical interpretation of the toponym, one should start with the Greek word petra – rock, then vár – 'tower'/'fort' in Hungarian, and the Turkish word din – 'strong', 'very strong' (originally, Old Persian). Historical sources from the years 1252, 1267 and 1334, the Abbey is referred to as Belakut Abbey, Petrovaradin Abbey, and Peter-Varadin Fort and Abbey.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Hungarian kings visited Petrovaradin on several occasions. The first Hungarian king of the Anjou dynasty Charles Robert spent some time at Petrovaradin, until he extended and strenthened his rule over the whole territory of Hungary. However, there are no data about Petrovaradin being part of the Nemanjić-ruled Serbia in the 14th century, despite the efforts of Serbian authors in that issue (R. Pavlovic and others, for instance).

The old Cistercian monastery was losing in importance, for the power of the fortified town, so significant in the chain of defence forts along the Danube, kept growing. That is why King Albert granted the Ban of Mačva Ladislav Gorjanski the fortified Petrovaradin, under the condition that the fortress is repaired and its potentials in defence reinforced. Yet as soon as several years later, the territory of Petrovaradin, together woth the Abbey, was the property of Nikola of Ilok. The dispute between two landlords has not been completely and scientifically accounted for. Soon thereafter, in 1462, King Matyas Corvinus granted Fort Petrovaradin to Peter Varadi (Petrus de Warda), Archbishop of Bačka-Kalocs, so that the fortress would get the best care of him and his successors. Nevertheless, the Turkish army led by Suleiman II seized Petrovaradin on July 27, 1526 – one month prior to the Battle of Mohacs.

Matyas Corvinus used to stay at Petrovaradin rather often. It was there that he signed an accord with the Republic of Venice in 1463, held an assembly with noblemen about defence against the Turks, and in the year 1475 he decided there to enter a war against the Turks.

King Wladyslaw II spent three weeks in Petrovaradin in 1494, investing his personal efforts to draw builders to the fort, the labour force for repair works on the ramparts and the towers. During the great Austro-Turkish War (1683—1699), Fort Petrovaradin was liberated in the autumn of 1687. But Eastern Slavonia, especially the Srem area, was a theatre of sanguinary clashes, a battleground where fortune changed sides. As soon as in 1688, the Turks of Ilok took Morović, then attacked Vukovar and, again – early in May - seized Petrovaradin. However, not long thereafter, facing the troops of Osijek, the Turks lost Vukovar and Ilok, to leave the fortress of Petrovaradin at the beginning of July, 1688.

Although the Turkish rule lasted for 165 years, Petrovaradin (as well as Ilok) was liberated in July of 1691. And the foundation stone for the extant Petrovaradin Fortress was laid on October 18, 1692.  However, in all those events around Petrovaradin, there were some inhabitants on the left bank of the Danube, too. On his state affairs-aimed journey to Adrianople, Antun Vrančić heard from a Danubian boatman that the left bank of the river was settled by people who tilled the soil and raised cattle. Some historical documents mention that the Turkish sultan wanted to build a bridge across the Danube to make the crossing over to Bačka and the return from there to Petrovaradin easier.

But in the year 1694, Petrovaradin Entrenchment (Petervaradi sánz) was constructed, with a special bridging of the Danube to the opposite bank. The left bank was there settled by the frontiersmen recorded in the census book for the year 1699. In all probability, one part of the Orthodox people who were heading for Hungary under the leadership of Arsenije Crnojević, particularly those who joined the Frontier troops, ended their journey at the settlement just springing out. Matija Bel recorded that the new settlement was protected by trenches.
Ante Sekulić