History
Kostajnica was first mentioned in the document by knights templar from 1240. This year is used as official birth year of this historic town.
Time of the first settlement is unknown, but town lies on very important Roman roads that were used for transporting salt and cotton. Since Roman roads were merged in the vicinity of the city it is believed that settlement dates much earlier than the first written document known today. Position of town is very similar to the town from old roman documents known as “Oeneum”. Five roman milestones were located in the city dating back to the 3rd century A.D.
During 13th and 14th century Kostajnica became a fortification (kaštel) that was built as a protection against invading Turks. The owners of the fortification were members of the noble families Lipovečki, Tot, Frankopan, Benvenjud and finally Zrinski, so the castle is today known as Zrinski castle (Stari grad Zrinski in Croatian). Other forts existing during that period were in the surrounding villages of Komogovina, Svinica, and Prevršac. The Turks invaded Kostajnica in 1556 and it wasn't until 1687 that the town was liberated.
During the early 18th century two schools are opened in the city. One school was operated by Catholic Missionary Church of “St. Antun Padovinski”, while the second schools was run as a Serbian Public School. Kostajnica is known for its natural springs such as; Varoški Bunar, Mrzlenac, Tekija, Pekinac, Paunovac, Angelovac, and Tutulovac. The most popular spring Tekija has engraved sign (drink brother, potion was given to you by the god’s mercy) “Pi brate iz Božje milosti dat ti je napitak.”
During World War II Hrvatska Kostajnica was bombed by American forces on May 30, 1944.
Kostajnica suffered greatly during the Croatian War of Independence. A large part of the Croatian population were expelled or killed by rebel Serbs in 1991 and the city was incorporated into the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Houses and buildings belonging to Croats were burned and looted, including the baroque church, the medieval apothecary, and the eighteenth-century Franciscan monastery. The only piece of the city's cultural heritage left was the castle by the river built by the Frankopans. Kostajnica was put back in Croatian control following military victories by the army in August 1995, and the Croat population expelled slowly began returning.
Read more about this topic: Hrvatska Kostajnica
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In history the great moment is, when the savage is just ceasing to be a savage, with all his hairy Pelasgic strength directed on his opening sense of beauty;—and you have Pericles and Phidias,—and not yet passed over into the Corinthian civility. Everything good in nature and in the world is in that moment of transition, when the swarthy juices still flow plentifully from nature, but their astrigency or acridity is got out by ethics and humanity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“When the history of guilt is written, parents who refuse their children money will be right up there in the Top Ten.”
—Erma Brombeck (20th century)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)