Virovitica

Virovitica

coat of arms

flag

Coordinates: 45 ° 50 ′ 5 ″ N , 17 ° 23 ′ 17 ″ E

Basic data

State :

Croatia

County :

Virovitica-Podravina

Height :

122 m. i. J.

Area :

178.49 km²

Residents :

21,291 (2011)

Population density :

119 inhabitants per km²

Telephone code :

(+385) 033

Postal code :

33,000

License plate :

VT

Structure and administration
(status: 2013, cf. )

Community type :

city

Mayor :

Ivica Kirin ( HDZ )

Coalition partner :

HSS, HSLS, HSP AS

Postal address :

Trg kralja Tomislava 6
33 000 Virovitica

Website :

Others

15th June

Virovitica [ ˈʋirɔʋititsa ] ( German Wirowititz , Hungarian Verőce , Italian Varaviza ) is a city in Croatia . It is located near the state border with Hungary near the Drava River on the northern slopes of the Bilogora Mountains. Virovitica has always been part of the historical Slavonia region , while the nearby town of Koprivnica is part of the Drau region of Podravina . Since the restructuring of the modern, independent Croatian state, Virovitica has been the capital of the Virovitica-Podravina County , which also includes part of the Drau region.

history

Virovitica was already settled in ancient times.

In 1234, King Bela IV granted Virovitica the privilege of being a free royal city. In 1242 the same king granted the same privileges to the city of Zagreb in a document known as the " Golden Bull ". This was also exhibited in Virovitica. Virovitica was the seat of Verőce County at the time of the Kingdom of Hungary .

In 1243 the city received privileges from Duke Koloman, which were confirmed by Queen Maria in 1248. The Franciscan monastery is mentioned here in 1280 and the Benedictine monastery in 1290. On the site of the destroyed medieval castle, Count Antun Pejačević (* 1749; † 1802) had a large late baroque-classicist castle (builder N. Roth, 1800-04) built, which is still surrounded by a moat and park. The settlement still consisted of wooden houses in the middle of the 18th century (some from the 19th century are still standing today).

Historical city names

The city of Virovitica can also be found under the following names in various documents or maps: Wirowitiza, Virovititz, Viroviticza, Verewitiza, Verowitiza, Verowtiza, Verőcze .

History of the museum

The city museum in Virovitica was founded in September 1953 as a local museum of the city and district of Virovitica. In the attic of the Pejačević Castle , one and, at times, two museologists begin to found this institution. With the help of many residents of Virovitica, through gifts, buying and collecting, the material for the archaeological, ethnographic, cultural-historical and art collection was procured and the library, archive and photo library were also established.

The collected museum material was already in May 1954 as “I. Museum exhibition ”. At that time, due to lack of space, the exhibitions were held in different rooms around the city.

The first permanent museum exhibition “Through the History of Virovitica” was opened in 1968 in the great hall on the first floor of the castle, where numerous exhibitions are still organized today. Since then, the whole castle has been gradually furnished. As part of the 750th anniversary of the town of Virovitica and the Scientific Congress on October 2, 1984, the permanent archaeological, cultural, historical, ethnographic and art collection of Branislav Glumac was opened.

The material and permanent exhibition were relocated in 1991 due to the threat of war and were brought back in the summer of 1992, and since then visitors have been able to view the permanent exhibition again.

Today there are around 5000 items in the museum, 800 of which are on permanent display. They describe life in the area around Virovitica from the early Stone Age to the first decades of the 20th century.

Virovitica Church

Virovitica Castle (north-west side)

Pejačević Castle is located in the city center (view from the southwest side)

Attractions

lock

In the park in the city center, on the site of the medieval fortress, there is the Pejačević family castle , which was built from 1800 to 1804 according to the drawings of the Viennese architect Roth . The castle is a monument of the 1st category and a representative one-story building with stylistic features of the late baroque and classicism. In addition to numerous photographs and a few drawings from the end of the last century, the earliest recorded appearance of the castle can be seen in the picture by Friedrich Lieder from 1811, which depicts the "Pejačević family in the park" (today the picture is in Gallery of Fine Arts in Osijek ). The castle takes its name from the earliest possessions, Count Pejačević, and from the middle of the 19th century until 1911 it was owned by the Schaumburg-Lippe family, only to be bought by Count Drašković later . The municipality of Virovitica bought the castle with the park, which today dominates the city center, in 1930 for their own use.

The park around the castle is a protected natural monument. Its design began at the beginning of the 19th century after the castle was built in the time of Antun (II.) Pejačević (* approx. 1775 - † 1838). At the place where the castle and the park are located, there used to be a medieval fortress.

The preserved defensive moat reminds us of this even today. The cadastral plan from 1862 shows that the park was completed. Of the deciduous trees, autochthonous species and their cultivated forms dominate in the park, for example Quercus robur f. fastigiata , the Fraxinus excelsior , still the native wild chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum . Of the foreign tree species, the Gymnocladus dioica , Sophora japonica , the Pllatanus acerifolis P. occidenthalis were planted here.

In addition to the defensive moat, the Taxodium distichum dominates . Of the conifers, the Juniperus virginiana and the Ginkgo biloba , the mythical Asian tree from the Ice Age, are represented. The park was also rich in lush flowering bushes that have decayed over time, and new species have been planted in their place.

Infrastructure

Street in VIrovitica

As a road and rail hub, Virovitica is characterized by through traffic and tourism.

There are several attractive excursion spots in the immediate vicinity of Virovitica, among which the large fish ponds in Razbojište at the foot and Milanovac on the vine-covered slopes of the Bilogora are particularly noteworthy. In Bilogora massif hunts are organized in high and small game, and on the Drava small game hunting and fishing are possible.

Virovitica-Podravina County

Hunting area “Virovitička Bilogora” - Industrogradnja dd Zagreb The Podravska Magistrale, the most important artery between Western and Eastern Europe, divides the Virovitica-Podravina County into two relief units: the wooded and flat Drautal in the north and the northeast slopes of Bilogora and Papuk in the south of the County. The town of Virovitica is the center of this county, which extends over an area of 2,021 km². The area around Virovitica is home to numerous wild animals and therefore attracts hunters. The Virovitica-Podravina County Hunting Association unites 35 hunting associations that manage 32 hunting grounds and are responsible for hunting tourism. The wild boar stands out from the big game because of its number and the stag and roebuck because of its trophy quality. Hare, quail, snipe, pheasant and wild duck are part of the rich offer that attracts hunters.

Personalities

Mirko Danijel Bogdanić (1762–1802), Croatian scientist
Aleksandra Grdić (* 1979), Miss Croatia 2003
Goran Jagar (* 1984), Serbian rower
Vedran Mataija (* 1988), handball player

Town twinning

Virovitica maintains a partnership with the following city :

Traunreut , Germany , since 1999

Web links

Commons : Virovitica - collection of images, videos and audio files