Tribanj is a village in the municipality of

Starigrad, Zadar County Starigrad ( it, Cittavecchia) is a municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. The total population is 1,876 (census 2011). According to the 2011 census, 96% of the population are Croats. The list of settlements in the municipality is: * Sel ...

, north

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 ...

. The village consists of seven

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

: Kozjača, Kruščica, Lisarica, Ljubotić, Običaj, Sveta Marija Magdalena, and Šibuljina. In a geopolitical context, Tribanj was the border of Austrian

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia ( hr, Kraljevina Dalmacija; german: Königreich Dalmatien; it, Regno di Dalmazia) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entir ...

in the 19th century, and is still viewed as a cultural border between

and

Croatian Littoral Croatian Littoral ( hr, Hrvatsko primorje) is a historical name for the region of Croatia comprising mostly the coastal areas between traditional Dalmatia to the south, Croatia proper, Mountainous Croatia to the north, Istria and the Kvarner Gu ...

. It is situated on the southern slopes of

Velebit Velebit (; it, Alpi Bebie) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the nor ...

mountain, also known as ''Podgorje''.

Geography

Tribanj has a long

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

(around 10 km long), which is a part of the

Paklenica The Paklenica karst river canyon is a national park in Croatia. It is near Starigrad, northern Dalmatia, on the southern slopes of Velebit mountain, not far from Zadar. It contains two canyons, Mala (Small) and Velika (Big) Paklenica. Today th ...

riviera. The coastline has been described already in the beginning of 17th century in the ''Senj pilot'', together with short details on its small ports and presence of water and wood. Along the coast, especially after heavy rainfall in

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 ...

region, appearance of vruljas can be seen. Climatically, Tribanj has a temperate humid climate with hot summers (Cfa). During winter months,

bura Bura may refer to: Places * Bura (Achaea), a city in Greece * Boura, Burkina Faso (disambiguation), also spelled Bura * Bura, Iran (disambiguation) * Bura, Taita-Taveta District, Kenya * Bura, Tana River District, Kenya People and civilizatio ...

has a great impact on life in Podgorje region, usually with roads being closed for traffic (

Karlobag Karlobag ( it, Carlopago, links=no) is a seaside municipality on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, located underneath the Velebit mountains overlooking the island of Pag, west of Gospić and south of Senj. The Gacka river also runs through the ar ...

– Sv. Marija Magdalena part of D8 state road, especially). The vegetation in Tribanj spans from sub-mediterranean zones of downy oak (''Quercus pubescens'') and European hop-hornbeam (''Ostrya carpinifolia'') in the littoral to zones of Dinaric forests of common beech (''Fagus sylvatica'') and silver fir (''Abies alba'') higher up in Velebit.https://www.vusz.hr/Cms_Data/Contents/VSZ/Folders/dokumenti/javanustanovazaupravljanjezasticenimprirodnimvrijednostima/arhiva/~contents/NDW2SALP92LHTQZ7/2011-3-15-5947916-2009-12-7-5331263-vegetacijahrvatske.pdf

History

Prehistory and ancient history

Area of Tribanj has a evident history of human activity since the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymo ...

. The earliest evidence of human presence are found in

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

, such as Reljina pećina, a cave near Ljubotić. Arrival of

Liburnians The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia ...

during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

saw the abandonment of caves as primary settlements. Instead, the Liburnians introduced building fortified hillforts and burying their deceased in

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones b ...

. The hillforts, known as ''gradina'' or ''gomila'', which are in local population known as ''turski grobovi'' (lit. turkish graves). Trošeljeva gradina, gradina above Lisarica, Silna (Sirna) gomila, and gradina sveta Trojica (Tribnjina) are the most prominent examples. The hillfort Tribnjina stands at 330 metres above sea level, and thus dominates the surrounding area. The ancient settlement was protected on the west side by a gorge (Tribanjska draga), and by defensive walls on the north, east, and south side. Prior the Roman conquest of the east Adriatic coast, Tribnjina was probably the major centre of south Velebit area. The Roman conquest saw the formation of Argyruntum and its development as

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () o ...

, thus lessening the significance of Tribnjina. During the reign of

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

, a fortification (''castrum'') was built below the Liburnian hillfort of Tribnjina.

Middle ages

The first mention of toponym ''Tribanj'' was in 1205.

Modern history

Dalmatia was promised to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

by the

Treaty of London (1915) The Treaty of London ( it, Trattato di Londra) or the Pact of London () was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the latter to enter ...

with its northern land borders that included Lisarica and Tribanj, listed as two different villages in the Treaty under Article 5.

Demographics

According to the census from 1900, Tribanj was the 3rd most populated settlement in the Podgorje area, with 1160 inhabitants, only the city of

Senj Senj (; it, Segna, la, Senia, Hungarian and german: Zengg) is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress ( hr, Tvrđava Nehaj) whic ...

(pop. 3182) and the village of Stinica (pop. 1345) were more populated. The population declined heavily since then in almost the whole Podgorje area, with similar trends on Croatian coast seen only on some islands. Such a decline of populace in Podgorje has to do with the wars that took place since then, the steep mountainous area, karst topography and climatic factors (e.g. bura wind, which causes the section of the D8 state road to close several times a year). These factors lead to subsequent lack of sufficient infrastructure and traversal of traffic to highways. The exception for depopulation in Podgorje are only seen in Starigrad and Senj. The 2011 census saw 267 inhabitants, while the 1991 census listed 481 inhabitants; 69.23% Croats and 25.57% Serbs. Families that are indigenous to Tribanj are Babac, Gazić, Lukić, Marinković, Matak, Njegovan, Poljak, Prodan, Sjauš, Štrbo, Trošelj, Vukić, Zubčić, Žeželj.

Religion

The village has a Serbian Orthodox church (dedicated to Archangel Michael), built in 1865, a Serbian Orthodox chapel on the cemetery (dedicated to the Holy Trinity), built in 1830, and a

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 ...

(dedicated to Mary Magdalene), built in 1181.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{coord, 44.3497, N, 15.3165, E, source:wikidata, display=title Populated places in Zadar County