Blinja 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 ...

in central

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 Town of

Petrinja Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banija, Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County. On December 29, 2020, the town was 2020 Petrinja earthquake, hit by a strong earthquake wit ...

Sisak-Moslavina County Sisak-Moslavina County () is a Croatian county in eastern Central Croatia and southwestern Slavonia. It is named after the city of Sisak and the region Moslavina just across the river Sava. According to the 2021 census, it is inhabited by 140, ...

. It is connected by the D30 highway.

History

Petar Keglević Petar Keglević II of Bužim (died in 1554 or 1555) was the ban of Croatia and Slavonia from 1537 to 1542. He was also a captain of Bihać from 1535 to 1539. Career Keglević was captain from 1521 to 1522 and later ban of Jajce. In 1526, some ...

obtained the medieval fortification in Blinja in the 16th century. In 1559

Ivan Lenković Ivan Lenković (died 22 June 1569) was a Habsburg Croatian army general and the leader of the Uskoks. He carried the title of baron. He is noted for the construction of Nehaj Fortress and as a captain of the Senj area.Bousfield (2003), p. 227. ...

proposed destruction of the fortress so that it would not fall into Ottoman hands. In a report written by the commissioner of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, the fortress is described as the last one before the Ottoman-controlled lands, and that its walls were damaged and surrounded by water. During the wider

Siege of Gvozdansko The siege of Gvozdansko () was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman siege of the fort of Gvozdansko Castle, Gvozdansko in the Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Kingdom of Croatia in 1577–1578. In the 1570s, the Ottomans intensified their efforts to captu ...

offensive in 1578, the fortress was under siege and damaged but was not conquered by the Ottomans. The fortress remained unconquered until the Ottoman retreat after the end of the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

and the signing of the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

. Since that time the fortification has been unused and has deteriorated over the years. The modern day ruins of the fortification are located in the forest-covered hill south-east of the village.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the village of Blinja had 78 inhabitants. This represents 37.14% of its pre-

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

population according to the 1991 census. :

Religion

Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah

The Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah in Blinja was constructed in 1809 on the site of the earlier wooden church from 1780. The local Orthodox parish was established in 1777 while its public records books have been kept since 1770. The architectural style selected for the new church was a combination of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

and

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. Permission for construction of the church was issued by the Zagreb General Command of the

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 ...

and it is therefore believed that the project itself was designed by some of Zagreb's architects.

Notable people

References

Populated places in Sisak-Moslavina County Serb communities in Croatia {{SisakMoslavina-geo-stub