Škabrnja is a village in northern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, located halfway between

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

and

Benkovac Benkovac () is a town in the interior of Zadar County, Croatia. Geography Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30 km from Zadar. The ...

in the lowland region of Ravni Kotari. Its municipality is also called Škabrnja, and it includes Škabrnja with a population of 1,413 as well as the smaller village of Prkos, population 363 with a total of 1,776 residents (2011 census). The total area of the municipality is 22.93 km².

History

The first mention of "the forest of Škabrnje" dates from a medieval contract which mentions the village of Kamenjani located near Škabrnja. The village of Kamenjani itself was first mentioned in 1070, and the last time in 1700; it was a property of the Šubić family and located in the area around today's village cemetery. The oldest two buildings in the village are the two Catholic churches: the church of St. Mary in the hamlet of Ambar, and the church of St. Luke at the village cemetery. The church of St. Mary dates from the 11th century and is built from stone, forming a

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Ancient Greek, Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple polygon, simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexa ...

al shape, one of several such old Croatian churches from northern Dalmatian towns and villages. The church of St. Luke was built in the 13th century, with a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

dome dated 1440. It has a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

which ends in an

apsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

, as well as a bell tower which was also built later. According to the census of 1991, Škabrnja was inhabited by 1,953 people in 397 households, and the vast majority of them were

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

(97.59%). In November 1991, during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

, Škabrnja was attacked by the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

and Serb

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

forces, resulting in the

Škabrnja massacre The Škabrnja massacre was the killing of 62 Croatian civilians and five prisoners of war by Serbian Autonomous Oblast Krajina (SAO Krajina) Territorial Defence troops and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in the villages of Škabrnja and Nadin n ...

References

External links

Skabrnja official site
* http://www.skabrnja.com/ Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Zadar County {{Zadar-geo-stub