Ilok

Ilok overlooks the Danube from the hills of Syrmia, its fortified old town surrounded by vineyards. The Romans maintained a frontier fort here called Cuccium; in the Middle Ages Ilok became the seat of powerful nobles. Its castle and Franciscan church recall the town's prosperity under Nicholas of Ilok, a magnate who also held the title of King of Bosnia.

The Franciscan preacher John of Capistrano, who helped rally the defence of Belgrade, died and was buried at Ilok in 1456. His tomb drew pilgrims, and Nicholas rebuilt the friary and strengthened the town walls. The Ottomans took Ilok in 1526; it later became the seat of the Sanjak of Syrmia while remaining a centre of Danube trade. After Habsburg forces occupied the town in the late seventeenth century, the Odescalchi family acquired the estate, restored the castle and developed wine cellars beneath it.