Turopolje () is a region in

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 ...

between the capital city

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and Sisak. The administrative center of the Turopolje region is the town of Velika Gorica.

Geography

Turopolje forms part of

Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning fro ...

, a region south of Zagreb bordering the right banks of the

Sava River The Sava, is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reaches Serbia, fee ...

on the east, and the Vukomericke Gorice hills to the southwest. It extends across an alluvial plain 45 km in length and up to 23 km in width. The area of the region occupies an area of about 600 km², with an average elevation of 110 m above sea level. Turopolje is divided into two halves by the river Odra and its tributary Lomnica.

Etymology

The name ''Turopolje'' stems from the Croatian and Old Slavic word ''Tur'' '

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

' (''Bos primigenius''), a type of wild cattle present in the area during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

History

Velika Gorica is the largest settlement and is first mentioned as ''Gorica'' in 1228. Other settlements include Mraclin (since prehistoric times), Staro Čiče (Bronze Age), Šćitarjevo (Roman empire), Lukavec (defense castle dating to the 15th century), Lekenik, Vukojevac, Peščenica, Buševec, Ogulinec, Vukovina, Poljana Lekenička and Brežana Lekenička. The village of Vukojevac is currently in the middle of an environmental battle in order to reroute the proposed highway between Zagreb and Sisak.

Culture

There is a pig breed from the region named the Turopolje pig.

Sources

Turopolje
at enciklopedija.hr Geography of Zagreb Regions of Croatia Geography of Zagreb County Geography of Sisak-Moslavina County {{CentralCroatia-geo-stub