Vladičanski dvor (Novi Sad)

Vladičanski dvor (Novi Sad), located in Novi Sad, Serbia, is the episcopal palace built for the Eparchy of Bačka, the regional diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The current building dates to the turn of the 20th century, completed in 1901 in an eclectic manner that draws on neo-romantic and Serbo-Byzantine influences related to a Serbian strain of Art Nouveau. From its completion it has functioned as the bishop’s official residence and later gained legal protection as a cultural monument, making it a prominent landmark in the city centre.

The site’s ecclesiastical use reaches back to the mid-18th century when a palace was erected in 1741 at the initiative of Bishop Visarion Pavlović of the Eparchy of Bačka. That house served the diocese through the 18th and early 19th centuries as a centre for church administration and the bishop’s household.

In June 1849 the earlier building was destroyed during bombardment of the town that took place from the Petrovaradin fortress in the course of the Hungarian Revolution and the Serb uprising of 1848–1849. This military action severely damaged the existing episcopal residence and ended its use in that form.

A new palace was planned at the end of the 19th century. Work began around 1899 and construction finished in 1901, after which the building resumed the role of the bishop’s house. In the political changes that followed the First World War, Prince Regent Aleksandar Karađorđević addressed gathered people from the palace balcony in 1919, following the unification of Banat, Bačka and Baranja with the Kingdom of Serbia during the creation of the new South Slavic state. In 1984 a monument to the poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj was placed in front of the palace; that monument became the focus for the annual Zmaj Children’s Games celebrations.