Donje Pazarište is a village in

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 the municipality of

Gospić Gospić () is a town in Lika, Croatia. It is the seat of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Gospić is located in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika. It is the administrative center of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located n ...

, located in central

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

. It is 18 kilometres west of

Perušić Perušić is a naselje, settlement and a municipalities of Croatia, municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia. In 2011, the municipality had 2,638 inhabitants, while the central settlement had 852. The municipality is within the mountainous Lika re ...

, and 22 kilometres north-west of Lika's largest town,

Etymology

In the

Croatian language Croatian (; ) is the standard language, standardised Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by Croats. It is the national official language and literary standard of Croatia, o ...

, 'Donje' means 'Lower'. It is theorised that the word 'pazarište' originates from the Turkish word 'pazar', most likely from the years of Ottoman Rule, meaning

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

, market, or

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

History

In the 15th century, the location of the village was the

Drašković family The House of Drašković (English: ''Draskovich''), is a prominent Croatian noble family, supposedly descended from an old Croatian noble tribe of Kršelac, Stupić or Poletčić, while others considered the Mogorović family but it is less lik ...

estate of Zažično, but then destroyed by the Ottomans. The village church, the Church of

Saint Jacob James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...

, was constructed in 1700.

Population

According to the 2011 census in Croatia, the village has 125 inhabitants. * 1971. - 251 (

Croatians The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also f ...

- 243,

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

- 7,

Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslaveni/Jugosloveni, Југославени/Југословени; ; ) is an identity that was originally conceived to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has been used in two connotations: ...

- 1) * 1981. - 174 (Croatian - 172, Serbs - 1, Others - 1) * 1991. - 307 (Croatians - 307) * 2001. - 170 * 2011. - 125

Economy

The village is the home of the producer of Velebitsko beer.

Notable residents

* Anka Butorac

References

{{reflist Populated places in Lika-Senj County