Cetingrad is a municipality in

Karlovac County Karlovac County () is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac. It borders Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. The city of Karlovac is a fort from the times of the Military Frontier. It was built as a six-side st ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

near Croatia's border with

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. The population of the village itself is 319, while the total municipality population is 2,027 (2011). The municipality is part of

Kordun The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within ...

. Cetingrad is underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the First Category Area of Special State Concern by the

Government of Croatia The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the Prime Minister of Croatia, president o ...

Administrative division

Cetingrad is today a municipality and part of

in Croatia. According to Roman Catholic organization, the parish of Cetingrad is a part of Slunj deanery, together with Slunj, Blagaj, Cvitović, Lađevac, Rakovica, Drežnik, Vaganac, Zavalje, Korenica and Plitvice.

History

Cetingrad was built in the vicinity of the ruins of the

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

fortress of Cetin. The Middle Ages was the golden era of Cetin. Near the fortress there was

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

and several churches. At that time Cetin was the property of

Frankopan The House of Frankopan (, , , ) was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croatia in union with Hungary. The Frankopans, along with the Zrinskis, are among the mos ...

family and it played important role in

History of Croatia At the time of the Roman Empire, the area of modern Croatia comprised two Roman provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the ...

. After defeat in

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

in 1526, the Croatian nobility gathered at Cetin to conduct the

1527 election in Cetin The 1527 election in Cetin (, meaning Parliament on Cetin(grad) or Parliament of Cetin(grad), or ) was an assembly of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) in the Cetin Castle in 1527. It followed a succession crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary caused by ...

, where they elected

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek ...

as the

king of Croatia This is a complete list of dukes and kings of Croatia () under domestic ethnic and elected Dynasty, dynasties during the Duchy of Croatia (until 925), the Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), the Croatia in personal union with Hungary, Kingdom of Croa ...

. The

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

signed by Croatian nobles and representatives of Ferdinand of Habsburg is among most important documents of Croatian statehood and is preserved in Austrian State Archives in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In next centuries Cetin was part of

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

, the borderland between

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. During this period Ottoman army took control over it several times. The fortress was several times damaged and repaired. In 1790 Austrian troops under the command of general Walisch finally returned back Cetin Castle to the Habsburg monarchy. In 1809 Ottoman forces once again occupied Cetin but in 1810 they withdrew under the threats of Marshal Marmont, governor-general of

Illyrian provinces The Illyrian Provinces were an autonomous province of France during the First French Empire that existed under Napoleonic Rule from 1809 to 1814. The province encompassed large parts of modern Italy and Croatia, extending their reach further e ...

. When the Ottoman threat was gone the fortress was abandoned and used as

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

. Administrative control was transferred to village of Cetingrad which developed north to the Cetin. In the 19th and 20th century the area was rarely populated and without any real opportunity for economic development. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

area once again experienced great suffering and destruction and after the war

socialist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

neglected this area. Due to poverty population was forced to migrate, first overseas and later to European countries. During the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

, Cetingrad and the surrounding area was militarily conquered. It was part of the

Republic of Serb Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Република Српска Крајина, Republika Srpska Krajina, separator=" / ", ; abbr. РСК / RSK), known as the Serbian Krajina ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српск� ...

until 1995. Most of Cetingrad's population spent four years in exile. Serb rebels burnt and then destroyed the biggest Roman Catholic church in Slunj deanery (church of

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

, crkva Marijina Uznesenja, built in 1891). The church was later rebuilt. In May 1995, Cetingrad was the site of a helicopter crash, caused by a missile fired by Serbs, in which the foreign minister of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Irfan Ljubijankić Irfan Ljubijankić (26 November 1952 – 28 May 1995) was a Bosnian diplomat, politician, accomplished surgeon, and a classical music composer, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 30 October ...

and six others were killed. In August 1995 during the

Operation Storm Operation Storm ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Oluja, separator=" / ", Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory f ...

Croatian army took Cetingrad. After 1995, Cetingrad was successfully rebuilt and large number of people returned to their homes.

Demographics

In 1895, the ''obćina'' of Vališ Selo (court at Vališ Selo), with an area of , belonged to the ''kotar'' of Slunj (Slunj court and

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

) in the ''županija'' of Modruš-Rieka (

Ogulin Ogulin () is a town in central Croatia, in Karlovac County. It has a population of 7,389 (2021) (it was 8,216 in 2011), and a total municipal population of 12,251 (2021). Ogulin is known for its historic stone castle, known as Kula, and the nearby ...

court and financial board). There were 1173 houses, with a population of 8832. Its 13 villages and 14 hamlets were divided for taxation purposes into 9 ''porezne obćine'', under the Slunj office. According to the 2011 census, Municipality of Cetingrad has the following ethnic breakdown:

Villages in municipality

Culture

Cetingrad is home to a monument to Croatian soldiers from the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. The current administration celebrates August 7 as its municipal day to commemorate its "liberation" from the RSK on that day in 1995.Cetingrad
/ref>

Infrastructure

In 1913, there were 7 gendarmeries in Slunj kotar: Cetin-grad, Gornja Močila,

Nova Kršlja Nova Kršlja is a village in Croatia. History In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the gendarmerie of the Drežnik Grad ''općina'' was not in Drežnik but in Nova Kršlja, farther away from Drežnik than the gendarmerie of the Rakovica ''općina''. T ...

, Primišlje, Rakovica,

Slunj Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica. Slunj has a popu ...

and

Veljun Veljun is a village in Croatia, under the Slunj township, in Karlovac County. Demographics In 1890, the ''obćina'' of Veljun (court at Veljun), with an area of , belonged to the ''kotar'' of Slunj (Slunj court and electoral district) in the ' ...

Notes

Sources

* Radoslav Lopašić: Oko Kupe i Korane, Matica Hrvatska, 1895, Zagreb * Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabora Kraljevine Hrvatske 1527, Karlovačka Županija, 1997, Karlovac * Iz memoara maršala Marmonta: ilirske uspomene 1806–1811, Čakavski Sabor, 1977, Split *

External links

Cetingrad - official site

Cetingrad - village in the Kordun Region

Cetingrad in the online Proleksis Enciklopedija
{{authority control Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Karlovac County Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia border crossings