Virovitica () is 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 ...
n city near the
Hungarian border. It is situated near the
Drava
The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe. river and belongs to the historic region of
Slavonia
Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...
. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011).
It is also the capital of
Virovitica-Podravina County
Virovitica-Podravina County (; ; ) is a northern Slavonian county in Croatia. Its county seat is in Virovitica and it includes the area around the Drava river, Podravina being the Drava's drainage basin. Other notable towns are Slatina and ...
.
Name
Virovitica has also historically been known by the names ''Wirowititz''/''Virovititz'' and ''Wirowitiza'' (
German), ''Viroviticza'', ''Verewitiza'', ''Verowitiza'', ''Verowtiza'', ''Verőce'' (
Hungarian) and ''Varaviza'' (
Italian), ''Viroviticza'' or ''Verucia'' (
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
).
Climate
Between 1994 and 2010, the highest temperature recorded at the local Bikana station was , on 18 August 2003. The coldest temperature was , on 31 December 1996.
At the Virovitica station, recording since 1951, the highest temperature recorded was , on 27 June 1965. The coldest temperature was , on 23 January 1963.
History
The town is first mentioned in 1234. It was part of
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
between 1552 and 1684 and was kaza centre initially in
Sanjak of Pojega (1552–1601), later in Sanjak of
Rahoviçe in
Kanije Eyalet (1601–1684) until the
Habsburg conquest in 1684.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Virovitica was a district capital in the
Virovitica County of the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...
.
Demographics
The following settlements comprise the administrative area of the city of Virovitica:
*
Čemernica, population 653
*
Golo Brdo, population 364
*
Jasenaš, population 77
*
Korija, population 767
*
Milanovac, population 1,711
*
Podgorje, population 833
*
Rezovac, population 1,303
*
Rezovačke Krčevine, population 331
*
Sveti Đurađ, population 564
* Virovitica, population 14,688
Politics
Minority councils
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs.
At the
Serbs of Croatia
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...
fulfilled legal requirements to elect 15 members minority councils of the Town of Virovitica but with only 12 representatives being elected in the body in the end.
Culture
The
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of Virovitica is
St. Rocco (), celebrated every August 16.
Đorđe Balašević
Đorđe Balašević ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Балашевић; 11 May 1953 – 19 February 2021) was a Serbian singer and songwriter, writer, poet and director. He began his career in the late 1970s as a member of the band Rani Mraz, transitionin ...
wrote a song titled Virovitica, praising his time spent in the city.
Sports
The local chapter of the
HPS is ''HPD "Papuk"'', which had 72 members in 1936 under the Lovro Bakotić presidency. At the time, it had
ski, music and
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
sections. Membership rose to 76 in 1937, but fell to 71 in 1938.
Transportation
The town lies on the intersection of the state roads
D2 and
D5 and also has a bus station.
The towns has one train station and one
halt - it lies on
R202 railway corridor.
Notable people
*
Željka Antunović (born 1955), politician
*
Ivan Dečak (born 1979), singer
*
Stanija Dobrojević (born 1985) Serbian television personality
*
Damir Doma
Damir Doma is a luxury clothing brand and Croatian fashion designer based in Milano.
Biography
Early life
Damir Doma is a fashion designer, founder and creative director of the Damir Doma brand. Doma studied fashion in Munich and Berlin. He gr ...
, fashion designer
*
Miroslav Feldman (1899–1976), poet and writer
*
Andrija Hebrang (1899–1949?), politician
*
Tomislav Maretić (1854–1938), linguist
*
Ksenija Marinković (born 1966), actress
*
Zrinko Ogresta (born 1958), film director
*
Renata Pokupić (born 1972), opera singer
*
Petar Preradović (1818–1872), poet and general
*
Vlado Singer (1908–1943), politician
*
Konstantin Čupković, Serbian professional volleyball player
*
Dijana Vukomanović, Serbian political scientist and politician
*
Ivan Šibl
Ivan Šibl (28 October 1917 – 30 March 1989) was a Yugoslav Partisans officer and Yugoslav People's Army Lieutenant Colonel General, as well as a writer and politician. Šibl was born in Virovitica. During the World War II, he joined the anti- ...
*
Edita Schubert (1947–2001), Croatian artist
Twin towns – sister cities
Virovitica is
twinned with:
*
Barcs, Hungary
*
Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
Traunreut, Germany
*
Vyškov
Vyškov (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone.
Administrative division
Vyškov consists of 13 mun ...
, Czech Republic
Gallery
Schubertova ku a.JPG, Schubert House
Robna ku a.JPG, Central department store
Park Virovitica2.JPG, City Park
01 Pogled na crkvu.jpg, Church in Virovitica
Strukovna kola.JPG, Vocational Secondary School
Ulica Stjepana Radi a.JPG, Stjepan Radić Street
Novi bolni ki kompleks u Virovitici.JPG, Virovitica Hospital
References
External links
Virovitica City
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Croatia
Slavonia
Virovitica County
Populated places in Virovitica-Podravina County
1234 establishments in Europe
Populated places established in the 13th century