Vodena vrata, or the water gate, is the only preserved of the four existing gates in the defensive walls of Osijek. The city was turned into a fortress at the beginning of the 18th century. From the impressive system of city fortifications, two bastions and a fragment of the wall with the north gate, i.e. the water gate, have survived to this day.
The construction of the fortification system was completed in 1735. The largest, most technically and architecturally advanced Habsburg fortress on the border with the Ottoman Empire was built. It consisted of eight bastions equipped with armories, ammunition and food depots, a military court, a design office, a garrison doctor's office, officer's apartments, a hospital and seven barracks buildings.
The World Monuments Fund, a non-profit organization dealing with architectural protection, recognized the old town of Osijek as a unique combination of the military, administrative and commercial center of the city. The Old Town is waiting for being on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
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