FORTRESS

A symbol of the city, it was built on the orders of Empress Maria Theresa between 1763 and 1783, on the site of a ^16th-century Turkish fortress. Beneath the foundations of the citadel, an even older fort was unearthed, first mentioned in 1232. The six-branched, three-row fort was designed by Austrian military architect Ferdinand Philipp von Harsch. The building is a prohibited military zone. However, it is possible to wander around in the park and leisure area at the foot of the fortress.