Ervenik ( sr-Cyrl, Ервеник) is a village and

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' ...

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the county are Knin, Vodice, Drniš a ...

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 ...

. There were 826 inhabitants (municipality) in 2021, and 97.19% of the population were

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 ...

, making Ervenik the municipality with the highest percentage of Serbs in Croatia. Population of the village was 243.

History

In 1636 the village was settled by Roman Catholics (Croats), who after the

Cretan War (1645–1669) The Cretan War (; ), also known as the War of Candia () or the fifth Ottoman–Venetian war, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies (chief among them the Knights of Malta, the Papal States and France) against the Ottoman ...

would be reduced to 7 families by 1697, steadily replaced by Serb Orthodox population. In 1928 and 1947 lived 79 and 47 Roman Catholic families respectively, but by 1987 were again reduced to only 7 families.

Culture and monuments

There are two churches in the village: * Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel outside the village (first mentioned in 1402). * Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in the center of the village, according to

Nikodim Milaš Nikodim Milaš ( sr-cyr, Никодим Милаш), born Nikola Milaš, (16 April 1845 – 2 April 1915), was a Serbian Orthodox Church bishop, theologian, university professor and academic. He was a writer, one of the most respected experts on ...

was built between 1669 and 1682, but by architectural characteristics is evidently that the Orthodox church was founded by renovation of a medieval

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

Roman Catholic church. Also, in the vicinity of Mokro Polje (and Ervenik), there are remains of the aristocratic Keglević fort ( Kegaljgrad), which was first mentioned in documents in 1433.

Demographics

In 2021, the municipality had 789 residents in the following 5 settlements: *Ervenik, population 227 * Mokro Polje, population 163 *

Oton Oton, officially the Municipality of Oton (; , , ), is a municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 98,509 people making it as the most populous town in the province and the entire ...

, population 102 *

Pađene Pađene ( sr-Cyrl, Пађене) is a village in the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. The settlement is administered as a part of Ervenik municipality. Location It is located in Zagora (Croatia), Zagora, 12 kilometers from Knin, on the state road ...

, population 101 * Radučić, population 196

Ervenik Municipality

Ervenik (village)

Note: ''From 1857 until 1961 the village of Ervenik was listed as two separate inhabited places, Donji Ervenik and Gornji Ervenik. The population from those years is the sum of the two villages.''

Language

Serbian and Croatian are co-official at the municipal level in Ervenik. As of 2023, most of the legal requirements for the fulfillment of bilingual standards have not been carried out. Official buildings do have Cyrillic signage, but not street signs, traffic signs or seals. Cyrillic is not used on any official documents, nor are there public legal and administrative employees proficient in the script. Preserving traditional Serbian place names and assigning street names to Serbian historical figures is legally mandated and carried out.

Notable people

Ljubomir Travica Ljubomir Travica ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Травица; born 1 October 1954) is a professional volleyball coach and former player from former Yugoslavia. He is the current head coach of You Energy Volley, in the Italian Volleyball League. His ...

References

Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Šibenik-Knin County {{ŠibenikKnin-geo-stub