Otočac

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Otočac
Municipality
Centre of the town
Centre of the town
Otočac is located in Croatia
Otočac
Otočac
Location of Otočac within Croatia
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Croatia
County Lika-Senj
Government
 • Mayor Stjepan Kostelac (Ind.)
Area
 • Land 1,460 km2 (565 sq mi)
Population (2001)10,411 (municipality)
 • Total 4,354
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 53220
Area code(s) 053
Website otocac.hr
File:Otočac.PNG
the Otočac municipality within the Lika-Senj County

Otočac (pronounced [ɔtɔ̌tʃats]; German: Ottochaz, Latin Ottocium) is a town in Lika, Croatia, former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. It lies in the northwestern part of Lika, in the Gacka river valley. The population of the town is 4,354 as of 2001, with a total of 10,411 people within the municipality at large, the majority of whom are Croats (91%).

History

Otočac was named after the early Croatian parish. The text of the famous Baška Tablet (around 1100) says that the church of St. Nicholas in Otočac was part of the order community with the Church of St. Lucy, Jurandvor on the island of Krk.

From 1300 on, it belonged to the estate of the Frankopan family. Sigismund Frankopan (1461–1535) founded a diocese there (see below).

The settlement with a defence tower, at a bend in the river Gacka, was protected by a towered fort. After the fort's demolition in 1829, only parts remained preserved. To provide a safer defence, a Renaissance-era castle ("Fortica") was built in 1619, with a triangular layout of cylindrical towers (these ruins stand above the town).

The Baroque parish church of the Holy Trinity, erected in 1684 (restored in 1774), is a large one-nave building with rounded sanctuary; three side chapels are on each side of the nave. The bell tower rises from the main front. The late baroque and classicist furnishings of the church include seven altars, a pulpit, baptismal font and sepulchral slabs from the 18th century.

From 1746, Otočac was the headquarters of a regiment (Ottotschaner Grenz-Infanterie Regiment N°II) of the Croatian Military Frontier, (Croatian Vojna Krajina). A number of harmonious, simple, mostly two-story houses originate from this period.

Until 1918, Otočac (named OTTOCSAZ before 1850) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia after the compromise of 1867).[1]

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Otočac was part of the Lika-Krbava County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

Ecclesiastical History

A bishopric was established in 1460, on territory split off from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Senj, which local estate owner Sigismund Frankopan (1461–1535) founded at the church of St. Nicholas and Jelena born Keglević widow of Juraj Mikuličić, who was a member of the community of the Divine Holy Spirit in Rome, gave to the church three parcels of land.[2][3] Initially it was suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Salona, later of the Archdiocese of Split.

In 1534 it was suppressed and its territory returned to its mother diocese of Senj.

Residential suffragan Bishops

  • Biagio Nicolai (1460.06.04 – death 1492?)
  • Giovanni Chericato, Crosier Canons (O.Cruc.) (1492.05.09 – 1493.08.16), later Bishop of Kotor (Montenegro) (1493.08.16 – death 1514)
  • Vincenzo de Andreis (1493.09.06 – 1520?)
  • Pietro de Andreis (1520.10.19 – 1534?)

Titular see

It was nominally restored in 1933 as a titular bishopric.

It had had the following incumbents, of the lowest (episcopal) rank :

Demographics

According to 2001 census, the municipality had 10,411 inhabitants, of whom 91.29% were Croats and 6.63% were Serbs. Croats in the vicinity of Otočac form two groups, those who speak Chakavian dialect and Bunjevci, who speak Shtokavian dialect with an Ikavian accent. Serbs form a majority in the villages of Gorići and Staro Selo. The town itself had population of 4,354.

Before the Croatian War of Independence, the 1991 census lists the greater municipality of Otčac as having 24,992 inhabitants, with 16,355 Croats (65.44%) and 7,781 Serbs (31.13%).

Geography

Otočac is located in the western part of the karst field of Gacka, located between Velebit and Mala Kapela, at an elevation of 459m. The town lies to the southeast of Senj, northwest of Gospić and west of Plitvice.

There are two town sections, the Upper Town and Lower Town.

Towns and villages in the municipality

Gallery

  • Crkva Presvetog Trojstva Otocac 050807.jpg

    Main church

  • Otocac.jpg

    Building damaged in war

  • Replika licke uniforme 050807.jpg

    A guard wearing a traditional Lika uniform of the Military Frontier

  • Žikmund Frankopan (Croatia).JPG

    Monument of Žikmund (Sigismund) Frankopan, Lord of the town in the 15th century

  • Spomenik braniteljima, Otočac - lice.jpg

    Memorial to fallen Croatian defenders of the Croatian War of Independence in the Otočac central park

Notable natives and residents

References

  1. ↑ Handbook of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia Cancellations on the Postage Stamp Issues 1850-1864, by Edwin MUELLER, 1961.
  2. ↑ Bihać i biháćka krajina, str. 146, Radoslav Lopasić, Matica hrvatska, 1890.
  3. ↑ Monumenta spectantia historiam slavorum meridionalium, Volume 42-43, page XXXV, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slavorum Meridionalium, 1917.

Sources and External links

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