Obrovac, Croatia
Encyclopedia
| County County A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain... |
Zadar Zadar County Zadar County is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its center is the city of Zadar.- Population :According to the 2001 census, Zadar County has population of 162,045... |
| Location | 44.20°N 15.68°E |
| Mayor Mayor In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city.... |
Ante Župan (HDZ) |
| Population Population A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals... (2001) |
4,000 (municipality) 1,500 (town) |
| Time zone Time zone A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times... (UTC) |
UTC+1 Central European Time Central European Time Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00... |
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, in the Zadar County
Zadar County
Zadar County is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its center is the city of Zadar.- Population :According to the 2001 census, Zadar County has population of 162,045...
of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Town population is 1,500 people (2005 data), and the whole Obrovac municipality has a population of 4,000 people. The town is located in the canyon of the river Zrmanja
Zrmanja
Zrmanja is a river in southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is long and its basin covers an area of .It was known to the ancient Romans as Tedanius. The spring of Zrmanja is located in southern part of Lika under Postak - the southern peak of Pljesevica mountain, and close to south end...
.
History
Obrovac is a town on the Zrmanja River some 11 km from the mouth of the river of the Novigrad sea. Above the town are the ruinsRuins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
of a fortified city. Its tributary Krupa attracts numerous day-trippers and, and in recent times, rafting, canoe, and kayak lovers. Not far from the town of Krupa is a monastery with a valuable icon collection. About 2 km (1.24 mi) north-west of the town, along the road heading up to the mountains, lies a huge deserted industrial complex.
Obrovac first got its name in 1337. In 1527 Obrovac was taken over by the Ottoman Turks. In 1687 Stojan Janković
Stojan Jankovic
Stojan Mitrović Janković, also known as Knight Janko was the commander of the Dalmatian Serb army, in the service of the Republic of Venice, from 1669 until his death in 1687. He participated in the Cretan and Great Turkish War, as the supreme commander of the Venetian Serb troops, of which he is...
who was a leader of Dalmatian Serbs forced the Turks out of Obrovac.
The current ethnic majority are Croats with 85%, while 15% are Serbs. However, before the Croatian military operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
in 1995, 86% of population were Serbs. During Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
, the entire population of Obrovac fled before the Croatian Army entered the town. When the Croatian military forces entered the town on the first day of the operation, they found a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
. This was recorded by the cameras of the Croatian Radiotelevision
Croatian Radiotelevision
Croatian Radiotelevision is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite...
reporters, who found a single old man to talk to.
Also of interest is that Croatian and Tottenham Hotspur footballer Luka Modrić
Luka Modric
Luka Modrić is a Croatian footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur and for the Croatia national football team.Modrić's childhood coincided with the Croatian War of Independence. After showing promise in hometown club Zadar's youth team, he was signed by Dinamo Zagreb as a teenager in 2002. His...
was born here. Dado Pršo
Dado Pršo
Miladin "Dado" Pršo is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker.Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional...
's family is also from Obrovac.
In 2008, Obrovac unveiled a restored riviera, which was the biggest financial investment in the city since Croatian independence. In 2009, a mass grave from World War II was found in the area.