Otočac

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(Redirected from Otocac)

Otočac</br>Image:Otočac (grb).gif
County	Lika-Senj
Area	565 km²
Population (2001)	10.411
Mayor	Stjepan Kostelac

Image:Croatia map blank.png

Otočac

Otočac on the map of Croatia

Otočac is a town in Lika, Croatia (Ottochaz in German). It lies in the northwestern part of Lika, in the field of the river Gacka. The population of the town is 4,354 (2001), with a total of 10,411 people in the municipality, the majority which are Croats at 91%.

1 Geography
2 Demography
3 History
4 Towns and villages in the municipality

[edit] Geography

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

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

[edit] Demography

According to 2001 census municipality had 10,411 inhabitants of which 91,29% were Croats and 6,63% were Serbs. Croats in Otočac area form two groups, those who speak Chakavian dialect and Bunjevci who speak ikavian Shtokavian dialect. Serbs form majority in village of Gorići and Staro Selo. Town itself had population of 4,354.

[edit] History

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

From 1300 it was a property of the Frankopan noble family. Sigismund Frankopan (1461-1535) founded a diocese there with the church of St. Nicholas.

The settlement with a defence tower, at a bend in the river Gacka, was protected by a fortification with towers. After the demolition of the fort in 1829, only parts of it remain 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 of the Military Frontier (Croatian Vojna Krajina). A number of harmonious, simple, mostly two-story houses originate from this period.