Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia as well as the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina and the administrative center of the South Backa District. The population is about 290 000 citizens. Novi Sad is located in the southern part of the Pannonian Plain on the banks of Danube River. Novi Sad means "a new garden". The town was founded in 1694 when Serbian merchants founded a colony near the Petrovaradin Fortress. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became an important trade and cultural center that earned the name – The Serbian Athens. There are founded Matitsa Srpsska - the most important Serbian cultural organization, one of the most prestigious high schools in Serbia, the first Serbian theater. The city was heavily damaged during the Revolution in 1848. Nowadays Novi Sad is an industrial, economic and cultural center and one of the most beautiful cities in Serbia.