Strmendolac is a settlement near
Trilj
Trilj (, it, Treglia, la, Pons Tiluri) is a municipality and town in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located northeast of Split.
Population
The total population of the municipality is 9,109, with 2,076 in Trilj itself and the rest in small vi ...
in the
Split-Dalmatia County
Split-Dalmatia County ( hr, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 14.106,40 km2.
Split-Dalm ...
of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
Geography
Strmendolac is located at the
Karst Plateau
The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills su ...
, 4 kilometers East of
Trilj
Trilj (, it, Treglia, la, Pons Tiluri) is a municipality and town in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located northeast of Split.
Population
The total population of the municipality is 9,109, with 2,076 in Trilj itself and the rest in small vi ...
. The village can be reached by road from the South from Čaporice, from the Southeast, from the direction of Ugljane and from the main road from Trilj. The village is surrounded by mountains. Many streams run through the village, joining into one larger one called Krolin Potok. The village drinking water comes from 18 natural sources. The area has many
karst formations, including caves, sinkholes and cracks. Garepuša is one of the largest caves in the area of Strmendolac, with a diameter about 4.5 meters. In the 1980s, the cave's colors began to reflect the colors of the stones from the river Grab. Two types of forests are present:
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...
forests of elm, ash and oak; and planted coniferous forests of pine and spruce.
Demographics
The natives are
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
, who make up the majority of the population. Most of the population are members of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Since the 1990s, the population has experienced consistent decline. In 2011, the village had 221 residents.
History
Strmendolac was settled in the
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...
n era, as documented by ruins and monuments. The
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
, crushed rural resistance and included the area in their empire. The most interesting
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
finds in the region are seven-foot crosses. The church of St. Nicholas was built in 1767. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the area was shelled by the Italian army. Villagers hid in ˝bunkers˝ that they had built at the war's beginning. At the end of the war, the villagers hid their weapons in the hills. Care must be taken when visiting wooded areas, because weapons may still be hidden there.
The Turks ruled for almost two hundred years until in the early 16th century,
Venetians ruled, most villages around Kamešnica were based in
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geograp ...
. Some Muslims converted to Christianity during this period. After 1691, the area returned to Turkish hands. The Požarevačka Peace Treaty was concluded in 1718 after a military coup. Kamešnica was thereby freed from the Turkish authorities. In 1732, the area became part of the newly established parish of Ugljane and joined the parish church during this reorganization. Under Venetian rule in 1797, the area was torn apart again when Austrian troops marched into the hinterland of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...
. In 1806, the territory was ruled by the French, but again returned to the hands of the Austrians after the defeat of
Napoleon at
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
in 1813.
The village had 173 inhabitants in 1857 and up to 225 inhabitants in 1910. In 1918, the area was considered a new Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian state, and it then became part of the first
Jugoslavije. During the war, the territory was not under any direct authority. Italian military troops planned attacks on the area, but no army entered the area for fear of ambush. After the war, the area became a part of socialist Yugoslavia.
Since 1991, Strmendolac has belonged to
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
Sport
"Rural Olympics" were traditionally held on May 1st. According to some data, some 2000 people once attended. Games and competitions included football, archery, and shooting.
References
{{Reflist
Populated places in Split-Dalmatia County