In Hungarian the village is known as Szalánkemén or Sztari Szlankamen (formerly also: Zalánkemén), in German as Alt-Slankamen, and in Turkish as Salankamen.

A Flavian fort was strategically situated for monitoring the lands beyond the Tisza river, the Legion camp cohors I Britannica equitata[2] and II Adjutrix[3] were based in the town.

Arsenije I Bogdanović from Srem, the second Serb archbishop (1233–1263), after Saint Sava was born in the village Dabar near Slankamen.

In 1325, according to a letter by pope John XXII to the Roman Catholic archbishop of Kalocsa, a public hospital was built in the village.

The Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Nikola was, according to the legend, founded in 1468 by Serbian despot Vuk Grgurević.