Ravna Gora, Croatia

Ravna Gora is a village and a municipality in western Croatia, located between Delnice and Vrbovsko in the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar.

History

The volunteer fire department DVD Ravna Gora was founded in 1888, and is today part of the ''VZ općine Ravna Gora''. The current commander of both the ''VZ'' and the ''DVD'' as of 2013 is Dražen Krepenc.

The local chapter of the HPS is ''HPD "Bjelolasica"'', which had 23 members in 1936 under the Ivan Marković presidency. At the time, it had a ski section. Membership fell to 21 in 1937. Membership fell to 15 in 1938, and the ski section became inactive. The next season, the entire chapter was inactive.

WWII

Along with Mrkopalj and Vrbovsko, Ravna Gora was one of the only places in Gorski Kotar that already had Ustaše when Ante Pavelić arrived in 1941.

In July, when the deportations of Serbs to accommodate the Slovenes of the population exchange commenced, the ''logornik'' in Vrbovsko informed his superiors that all the Serbs were in Moravice apart from two retired Serb gunmen in Severin na Kupi. For the temporary accommodation of Slovenes in Ravna Gora, the ''Deutscher dom'' was offered for the housing of 100 people but for its occupation by the Italians.

The Italians withdrew from Ravna Gora on 15 March 1942, on the same day as Sunger and Mrkopalj. The Italians did not leave those towns along the railway, which they fortified with barbed wire.

At 11:00 on 22 March 1942, a large mass of Communists entered Ravna Gora under the Croatian flag, holding a meeting in front of the Općina house, blocked off all of Ravna Gora and set up a guard at the entrance and exit.

In May 1942, following the success of arming Serbs to form auxiliary chete in Moravice, Gomirje and Lička Jesenica, the Italian army decided to form similar armed groups from among the Croats of Ravna Gora and Mrkopalj.

Recent

Ravna Gora was hit by the 2014 Dinaric ice storm. From 31 January to 2 February 2014, while S and SW geostrophic wind dominated, freezing rain fell on Gorski Kotar, glazing the entire region. It wrecked roofs, power lines an forests, causing power loss for about 14,000 households households in Gorski Kotar, or about 80% of its population. Because of power lines falling on the A6, the highway was closed in of Rijeka between Bosiljevo and Kikovica, and between Kikovica and Delnice in the direction of Zagreb. It took about 10 days to restore essential infrastructure to the region, and within months electricity was back in most of its former range, but at a cost of about 84.4 million HRK to HEP. At the time it was the largest peacetime damage since its Secession from Yugoslavia, even without counting the forestry losses. The ''Šumarija Ravna Gora'' fared well relative to western forestry branches, losing mainly diseased and very poorly anchored trees. Clearing blocked forestry roads and forest paths would take years, and thanks to the declining population some were never cleared.

On 28 October 2018, strong convective precipitation led to flash flooding, causing all roads in and out to be closed.

One night in mid-June 2019, the restaurant ''Breza'' caught on fire. Three firefighters from the local volunteer fire department arrived on scene at 3:49, followed by six more, but efforts were focused on preventing its spread to adjacent injabited rooms and all 12 bottles of air were used up, leading to cessation of firefighting until the ''JVP Delnice'' could arrive, joined by the volunteer fire departments of Stara Sušica and Kupjak. The fire was under control by 6:15 and had been put out by 10:00. 30 firefighters participated with 5 vehicles. The fire caused about a million HRK in damage.

On 16 September 2022, heavy rain led to the A6 interchange at Ravna Gora being closed due to flooding.

Demographics

In the 2021 census, the total municipality population was 2028:

In 1870, Ravnagora općina, in Delnice ''podžupanija'', had 423 houses, with a population of 3193. Its 4 villages were divided into 3 ''porezne obćine'' for taxation purposes. Ravnagora had its own parish.

In 1890, the ''općina'' of Ravna Gora (court at Ravna Gora), with an area of , belonged to the ''kotar'' and electoral district of Vrbovsko ( Vrbovsko court) in the ''županija'' of Modruš-Rieka (Ogulin court and financial board). There were 454 houses (518 in 1910), with a population of 2622: 1038 male and 1584 female; 2684 in 1913. The majority were Croatian or Serbian speakers, but 14 spoke German, 10 Slovak, 7 Slovene, 2 Czech, 1 Hungarian, 1 German and 2 spoke other languages. The majority were Catholic, but 21 were Jewish and 2 were Eastern Orthodox. Its 3 villages and 3 hamlets were divided for taxation purposes into 3 ''porezne općine'' (Ravna Gora, Stari Laz, Sušica), under the Delnice office. It had 1 market (the only other in the kotar being in Vrbovsko).

In 1910, the entire općina had no resident soldiers. Militarily, Ravna Gora fell under the and 26th Landsturm Infantry Brigade, both at Karlovac.

In 1890, Ravna Gora itself had 227 houses and 1282 people. Vrh had 27 houses and 115 people. They attended the school in and were administered and taxed by Ravna Gora, which also had a post office.

Further reading

* Page 32.

Settlements

The following settlements are under Ravna Gora:
* Kupjak, population 176
* Leskova Draga, population 8
* Ravna Gora, population 1477
* Stara Sušica, population 205
* Stari Laz, population 147
* Šije, population 15
In the same census, the population was over 97% Croats.

Governance

National

Representatives of the Ravna Gora kotar at the Croatian Parliament:

* Tomislav Cuculić (1848, 1861)
* Ante Cuculić (1861–1865)

At the 1920 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Constitutional Assembly election in Modruš-Rijeka County, Ravna Gora voted mainly for the Croatian People's Peasant Party and to a lesser extent the Communist Party .

Judiciary

In 1875, the kotar court of Delnice encompassed a population of 28,347, being responsible for the općine: Delnice, Lokve, Fužine, Mrkopalj, Ravna Gora, Brod, Skrad, Vrbovsko.

Culture

Cuisine

In 2008, Blažica Sveticki, at the time director of the Ravna Gora branch of the National Tourist Board, founded the society ''Plodovi gorja Gorskog kotara'' for the sake of preserving local agricultural and culinary traditions and food products. The society consists of various family farms, which participate in various manifestations, the oldest of which originated before the society was founded, back in 1998: the "Blueberry days" () and "Mushroom days" (). From year to year, other fruits were added: elder, strawberry, spruce, raspberry and so on.

Infrastructure

Forestry

The forestry office for Vrbovsko srez was in Ravna Gora.

Sports

Bowling

Ravna Gora is home to the bowling clubs ' and ''Ravnogorac'', who meet at the ''SPC Goranka''. The best bowlers of ''Goranka'' have competed in the , winning ; having won of the 2nd League in 2018, and before that of the 3rd League in 2014. The local individual record at the bowling alley is 698, set in 2025 by Robert Skok.

Cycling

Beginning in 2013, the 7 stage long Cycling Trail of Gorski Kotar () passes through Hlevci.

The "Gorski Kotar Bike Tour", held annually since 2012, sometimes goes through Ravna Gora, such as in the third leg for 2023 and the second leg for 2024, both of which started and ended in Ravna Gora.

Notable people

Notable people who were born or lived in Ravna Gora include:
* (b. 17 January 1938), lawyer and columnist

Gallery

Pogled na dio Ravne Gore.jpg, Street in Ravna Gora
Crkva svete Terezije Avilske u Ravnoj Gori.jpg,
Kapelica svetog Florijana u Kosi.jpg, ''Sv. Florijana'' chapel in
Ravna Gora.jpg, Panorama
Pogled na Ravnu Goru zima 1.jpg, Ravna Gora in winter

Selected works

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Notes

References

Bibliography

History

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Populated places in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
Municipalities of Croatia