Imotski

Imotski

coat of arms

Coordinates: 43 ° 26 ′ 48 ″ N , 17 ° 12 ′ 59 ″ E

Basic data

State :

Croatia

County :

Split-Dalmatia

Height :

395 m. i. J.

Area :

73.25 km²

Residents :

10,764 (2011)

Population density :

147 inhabitants per km²

Telephone code :

(+385) 021

Postal code :

21 260

License plate :

IN THE

Structure and administration
(status: 2013, cf. )

Community type :

city

Mayor :

Ivan Budalić ( HDZ )

Postal address :

Ante Starčevića 23
21 260 Imotski

Website :

www.imotski.hr

Imotski (German: Eimot , Italian: Imoschi ) is a small town in Croatia . It is the center of the municipality of the same name. 4,757 people live in the town of Imotski (2011 census).

geography

Imotski is located in the Zagora directly behind the mountain range Biokovo and belongs to the Split-Dalmatia County ( Croatian Splitsko-dalmatinska županija ). The distance to the Adriatic is 30 kilometers, that to Split 80 kilometers. The border with Bosnia and Herzegovina is seven kilometers away. The city lies on the flank of a mountain on the edge of the fertile Imotsko Polje karst basin .

history

Archaeological finds show that the area around Imotski was already inhabited in the Neolithic . From the 10th century BC The Illyrian tribe of the Dalmater (Delmaten) settled here . In Roman times the trade route between Salona and Narona passed through what was then Emania, which was more of a rest stop for travelers than a town.

There are indications that the Imotski fortress, the nucleus of today's city, was built during the reign of Trpimir I between 845 and 864. It is mentioned for the first time in the font De Administrando Imperio of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII from the middle of the 10th century as Emotha . It is not known whether a city existed outside the fortress walls at that time.

In the following years Imotski changed hands frequently and was ruled by Hungarians, Bosnians, Serbs and the Byzantines. When Imotski came under Ottoman rule in 1493 , the fortress, now called Topana ( Turkish top hana - weapons magazine), was expanded due to its border location. In the 17th century, around 1000 people lived in the fortress and the surrounding villages. In the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War , Imotski fell to Venice on August 2, 1717 after a brief siege , which was confirmed in the Peace of Passarowitz in 1718 . From now on Imotski shared the fate of the rest of Dalmatia .

Attractions

Topana fortress fell into disrepair after it was abandoned by the Austrians who took it over from the Venetians. It was used as a quarry by the residents of the growing city. The remains are preserved today. At the entrance is the Church of the Holy Madonna of the Angels, built in 1718 after the departure of the Turks. Due to its exposed location, the fortress offers a great view over the city and the Imotsko Polje. Topana lies at the top of a nearly 300 meter deep collapse doline that is filled by the Blue Lake . A comfortable path leads down into the karst basin to a viewing platform right on the lake.

About a kilometer west of the Blue Lake is one of the largest water-filled collapse dolines in the world. It is over 500 meters deep and about halfway filled with the legendary Red Lake , whose name is derived from the reddish color of the almost vertically sloping rock walls.

The football stadium, which was built from 1987 to 1989 in a sinkhole below the fortress, is worth seeing because of its location.

The Franciscan monastery from 1738 houses art and cultural history collections, including finds from the Illyrian and Roman times. The neighboring neo-Romanesque parish church of St. Franz was built between 1861 and 1881. In front of the church there is a monument to the church builder Fra Stjepan Vrljić.

From the old town of Bazana , located below the fortress, a staircase built by the Venetians leads to the newer parts of the city. At the end of it stands the monument to the Croatian poet Tin Ujević created by Kruno Bošnjak .

In the vicinity of the city one can find tombstones ( Stećci ) that were previously attributed to the Bogomils .