[1] The construction of the bridge which connected Osijek and Darda, began by Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha on August 16, 1526 following the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent.

[2] The bridge was designed by Mimar Sinan, a military engineer who later became the sultan's chief architect.

[3] It took the form of a wooden road on piers and was approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 6 metres (20 ft) wide.

After Suleiman crossed the river Drava at Osijek during his fifth imperial campaign in 1532, instead of taking the usual route for Vienna, he turned westwards into Ferdinand's held Hungarian territory.

[1][5] Seen as a great threat to Christian Europe, the bridge was attacked several times, being destroyed in 1664, when it was set on fire on the orders of the Croatian feudal lord Nicholas VII of Zrin (Croatian: Nikola VII.