3 Best Sights in Slavonia, Croatia

This impressive collection takes you through the ages of Ilok, from the Ottoman era to the Austrian Empire, the wars of the 20th century, right up to a modern art gallery. There are particularly interesting exhibits on the region's Jewish population pre-1945, relics from a 19th-century pharmacy, and an ethnological section on the top floor focusing on Ilok's large Slovak population. The museum is housed in the Odescalchi Castle, an imposing fortified structure overlooking the Danube, which was built on the foundations of the 15th-century castle of Nicholas of Ilok. Legend says that Suleiman the Magnificent once slept in this castle. The rooms themselves are exquisitely designed with period pieces and mood music in keeping with their original function, such as the hunting room and the drawing room.

A wine cellar, restaurant, hotel, and history lesson all rolled into one, Stari Podrum is the old cellar of one of Croatia's most renowned wineries, Iločki Podrumi, and a must-visit when in Ilok (even if you're not into drinking wine). The Odescalchi family began producing high-class wines here in the 18th century, including the celebrated Traminac varietal, which was served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A private tour will take you through the atmospheric cellars, past Slavonian oak barrels to the prestigious archive wines and old bottles, full of dust and cobwebs, that were hidden behind a wall for protection during the Homeland War. You can organize a tour and tasting for around €10. The on-site restaurant serves delicious Slavonian dishes, including melt-in-your-mouth black pork dishes; you can eat inside surrounded by traditional embroidery and heavy wooden furniture or outdoors in the sunny central courtyard. Accommodations can also be arranged in one of 18 spacious and comfortable on-site rooms.

This Franciscan church and monastery overlooking the Danube, first constructed in 1349, holds the remains of St. John of Capistrano, a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest. In 1456, at age 70, he led a successful battle against the Ottomans, which earned him the nickname "Soldier Priest." He died three months later in Ilok of the bubonic plague but was said to have performed miracles even on his deathbed. The church—which also holds the remains of Nicholas and Lawrence of Ilok, both of whom made expansions to the monastery complex during their reign—was given a 20th-century neo-Gothic facelift by Hermann Bollé, the same architect who helped design the cathedrals in Đakovo and Zagreb, as well as Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery. The tourist information center is next door; if the church is closed, contact them to arrange a visit.