Zelovo is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

within the area of the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

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 ...

. In 2021, its population was 122. It is located at the southern slope of the

Svilaja Svilaja is a mountain range in Croatia, in the Dalmatian Hinterland. It is part of the Dinaric Alps and stretches from the town of Sinj northwest to the Petrovo field, approximately 30 km in length. The highest peak is Svilaja or Bat at 15 ...

mountain, some 14 km from the town of Sinj and 7 km from the village of Hrvace, which is also the next largest settlement near Zelovo. The surroundings of the village include the mountains of Plišivica, Gradina and Orlove Stine (part of Svilaja mountain with a steep face), which are known for the occasional settlement of

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

s during their migration to the island of

Cres Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, Krk island or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of , Cres has the same si ...

and towards the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The village also houses the St. Vitus Church, patron saint of the village, and the village festival takes place on St. Vitus Day, 15 June. The village is known for its autochthonous Zelovo

tobacco pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl (smoking), bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range ...

made of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

. These clay pipes are made only in Zelovo and nowhere else in

. In addition to pipes, the inhabitants produced also

cigarette holder A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite (popular in the past but now wholly replaced by modern plastics), cigarette holders were consid ...

s, wooden toys,

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

wood carving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculpture, ...

decoration objects and

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

( "diple"-flutes,

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

stringed instruments In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play som ...

). Almost every household in Zelovo was a production site for various

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

items. There are few rural villages in Croatia where

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workma ...

was so developed and promoted. The most famous product, however, is the famous Zelovo tobacco pipe. The beginnings of pipe production were recorded in the first half of the 18th century, when families with surnames Delaš, Domazet and Jukić moved to Zelovo, where the pipes were made. Other surnames are Barać, Gabrić, Jelavić, Jelčić, Marović and Šako.

Demographics

Notable people

* Joško Jelčić (football player / TV expert) *

Mario Delaš Mario Delaš (born January 16, 1990) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Ribola Kaštela of the Croatian second-tier First Men's Basketball League. He is a 2.07 m (6'9 ") tall power forward / center. Professional career Mario De ...

(basketball player) *

Ante Delaš Ante Delaš (born March 11, 1988) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Ribola Kaštela of the Croatian second-tier First Men's Basketball League. He can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, making him a classica ...

(basketball player) *

Matko Jelavić Matko Jelavić (born 29 March 1958) is a Croatian and Yugoslav singer, songwriter, and musician. He started his career in 1978, as the drummer for the rock band Metak, releasing two albums with the group. After Metak disbanded in 1981, he start ...

(singer)

References

{{authority control Populated places in Split-Dalmatia County