Škabrnja 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 ...

and a municipality in northern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

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 ...

, located halfway between

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

and

Benkovac Benkovac () is a town and municipality in the Zadar County, Croatia. Geography Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica, Croatia, Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30&n ...

, in the lowland region of Ravni Kotari. The municipality includes the village of Škabrnja with a population of 1,413, as well as the smaller village of Prkos, population 363, with a total of 1,776 residents (2011 census). The total area of the municipality is 22.7 km².

History

The first mention of "the forest of Škabrnje" dates from a medieval contract which mentions the village of Kamenjani located near Škabrnja. The village of Kamenjani itself was first mentioned in 1070, and the last time in 1700; it was a property of the Šubić family and located in the area around today's village cemetery. The oldest two buildings in the village are the two Catholic churches: the church of St. Mary in the hamlet of Ambar, and the church of St. Luke at the village cemetery. The church of St. Mary dates from the 11th century and is built from stone, forming a

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...

al shape, one of several such old Croatian churches from northern Dalmatian towns and villages. The church of St. Luke was built in the 13th century, with a Gothic dome dated 1440. It has a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

which ends in an

apsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

, as well as a bell tower which was also built later. At the end of the 19th century, the Škabrnja

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

included six smaller settlements: Ambar, Prkos, Kutrovo, Marinovac, Škare. In 1878, Škabrnja had 640 inhabitants. According to the census of 1991, Škabrnja was inhabited by 1,953 people in 397 households, and the vast majority of them were

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

(97.59%). In November 1991, during 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 ...

, Škabrnja was attacked by the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

and Serb

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

forces, resulting in the Škabrnja massacre.

Demographics

In 2021, the municipality had 1,661 residents in the following 2 settlements: * Prkos, population 341 *Škabrnja, population 1320

References

External links

Skabrnja official site
* http://www.skabrnja.com/ Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Zadar County {{Zadar-geo-stub