Rastoke
| Rastoke | |||
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| Basic data | |||
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| State : |
 Croatia
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| County : |
 Karlovac
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| Municipality : | Slunj | ||
| Residents : | 65 (2001) | ||
| Telephone code : | (+385) 047 | ||
| Postal code : | 47 240 | ||
| License plate : | KA | ||
| Structure and administration (as of 2011) |
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| Community type : | settlement | ||
| Mayor : | Ivan Bogović ( HDZ ) | ||
| Postal address : | Trg dr. Franje Tuđmana 12 47 240 Slunj |
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| Website : | |||
,_Slunj,_Croatia.JPG) Waterfall in Rastoke |
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The Rastoke [ ˈrastɔkɛ ] represent the historical core of the Croatian city Slunj , which lies at the confluence of the rivers Slunjčica and Korana . The term Rastoke can be traced back to the following meanings in German:
- On the one hand, this is a flow branch . The Slunjčica, which is called Slušnica by the local population , is divided into several small river arms at this point. It then flows into the Korana via numerous cascades and smaller waterfalls .
- On the other hand, this is the name given to limestone from which calcium carbonate is dissolved by means of carbonic acid (Croatian rastopina , rastok ). Thus, new rock is always formed by dissolved and re- sedimented calcium carbonate.
In Rastoke you can observe the same natural phenomena, which are characteristic of the Plitvice Lakes , in a somewhat smaller format . This is why the Rastoke are often referred to as the "small Plitvice Lakes". The Korana is the name given to the river that flows north after the Plitvice Lakes. Slunj and Rastoke are therefore directly connected to the Plitvice Lakes by water.
The town of Slunj was formed along the branches of the Slunjčica. Numerous water mills were built here as early as the 17th and 18th centuries . These idyllic mills were still in use until the middle of the 20th century. Even today you can get to know how some of these mills worked and the everyday life of the population at the time.
Rastoke has been under the protection of the Croatian Restoration Institute since 1962. The Rastoke settlement was also entered in the register of immovable cultural monuments in 1969. The entire area of Rastoke was placed under special protection on the basis of the Nature Conservation Act of 1976.
First mention
The Rastoke are mentioned in 1860 in a travelogue by the priest, philologist and writer Adolfo Veber Tkalčević . Back then, he reported about the beautiful, greenish Slunjčica, which has created so many beauties in such a short space of time. He also spoke of the “cold bloodedness” of the Croatian population, who often did not appreciate these beauties and rarely visited them.
According to Belshazzar Hacquet , a travelogue writer and the author of the work Oryctographia Carniolica (1789), the Slunjčica waterfalls are the most beautiful he has ever seen.
The Austrian writer Heimito von Doderer completed the novel The Slunj Waterfalls in 1963 , which is set in the 19th century. In the 20th century a scientific study of the area around Slunj and Rastoke began. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Rastoke were the center of social life in this area. With the development of the electric mills and a massive emigration movement after World War II, the economic importance of the mills in Rastoke decreased drastically.
The Slunjčica karst river
In the Lika , in the massif of the Mala Kapela Mountains under the Veliki Javornik mountain peak, the river Jesenica rises , which disappears under the earth after only six kilometers near the village Lička Jasenica . It then flows 20 km underground, like many other karst rivers in Croatia . 6.5 km south of Slunj it emerges again as the Slunjčica river.
At the confluence of the Slunjčica with the Korana , the river creates a travertine barrier 500 meters wide and 200 meters long. This imposing limestone layer is created by the high content of calcium , which collects in the water in the underground river and is later deposited in Rastoke. The travertine barrier and the Rastoke itself are usually divided into two areas, the upper and lower Rastoke (Croatian: Gornje i donje Rastoke ). The lower area consists of 23 waterfalls, which plunge into the Korana, which is 10 to 20 meters below. The entire length of the barrier is lined with numerous smaller waterfalls and pools.
In addition to mushrooms and mosses, which thrive due to the high humidity, you can also find larger plants in Rastoke. Burdock is one of the large-leaved plants . The trees found there include poplars , aspen , willow trees , linden and alder .
Đuro Deželić noticed as early as 1865 that there were “crabs and excellent trout” in the water. Badgers once lived here and otters once romped about right on the barrier .
Due to the relatively short course of the river on the earth's surface, the Slunjčica always has a lower temperature than the nearby Korana. The water temperature is between 6.5 and 7 ° C in winter and a maximum of 16 ° C in summer. In summer, the maximum temperature of the Korana is around 28 ° C. If there are significant temperature differences in relation to the water temperature of Slunjčica, parts of Rastoke are enveloped in a mysterious veil of mist, which is regularly the case. The trees standing near the water are therefore often covered with dew . The Slunjčica River was registered as a nature reserve in the register of protected natural objects in 1964.
Architecture and human influence
,_Slunj,_Croatia_(new).JPG)
The natural conditions of the Rastoke alone are worth paying closer attention to and are astonishing. However, that's not all that the Rastoke is all about. Small mills and houses were built along the travertine barrier in the traditional and unique style of the region - a combination of the Dinaric architectural style and that of the Posavina area ( Sava area). The lower part of these buildings is made of stone while the upper part is made of wood. The roofs are made of shingles or brick .
Because of the high proportion of calcium that was regularly deposited in the openings between the stones, the basement part of the building was impregnated with a sintered coating so that the water could not penetrate the houses even when the water levels were high.
In the best of times there were up to 22 mills in Rastoke, bearing the names of the families who worked as millers. These included the Jareb, Vučeta, Žalac, Petrović, Holjevac, Močan, Kovačević, Rožin, Štefanac and Skukan families.
The mills of Rastoke were ( bucket wheels powered) bespickten water wheels. This also set the axis of the millstone in motion. The water gradient therefore had to be at least three to five meters and the wooden pipe for the water supply had to be set up at an angle of at least 35 degrees.
Each mill had two or three, some even several millstones . Most millstones for grinding were so-called black grains used, ie for corn , rye , barley , millet and oats . The best quality stones were used for grinding white grain ( wheat ). The miller's fee was around eight to ten percent of the amount of meal.
There were also frequent attempts to cheat the miller or to drop certain quantities under the table. It was then up to the millers to outwit these crooks or to track down the fraud. The relationship between the millers and his customers was considered a sanctuary. The job of miller lasted a lifetime and was passed on from father to son. There had to be big differences of opinion that a miller turned away from this profession. This was widely viewed as a great shame.
In addition to grinding, water power was also used for tamping, or for the final processing of woolen fabrics. At that time, these fabrics were considered the most important clothing material.
Even then, a traditional washing machine was used to wash clothes. It worked on the same principle as today's washing machines: a perforated wooden barrel rotated in the running water and washed the clothes in the process.
The population of Rastoke was known for weaving of flax and hemp yarn . They first dipped the plants they had grown themselves in the slightly warmer water of the Korana. The material was then woven. This was a main occupation of women, especially in the long winter months. The traditional folk costumes of Slunj and Rastoke are made from these materials.
Tradition and culinary specialties
In addition to nature and architecture, the traditional way of life in the Kordun region is inextricably linked to the Rastoke. The relationship between the millers and the rest of the population, the grinding technique, the processing of vegetable textiles and wool, the customs, the language, the folk costumes and much more shaped life in Slunj and the surrounding area for centuries.
The bread from Rastoke, which was characterized by crumbly, sweetness and special palatability, was known far and wide. The housekeepers from Rastoke often passed on the recipe and instructions for making this bread to guests. However, the bread baked elsewhere never reached the desired quality as in Rastoke. The secret of the bread lay in the fact that only freshly ground flour , a mixture of wheat, corn, barley, rye and even millet was used for the production. This mixture was kneaded with the water from Slunjčica and made to swell with the help of homemade yeast . The flour had to be milled in the traditional way, using millstones powered by water, never electric mills.
Other specialties of the area include grilled trout from the cold Slunjčica. There used to be in the territory of indigenous grape varieties Lisac and Šušnjar which, however, by the phylloxera ( Phylloxera destroyed).
Unstable equilibrium
The Rastoke represent a living organism that pulsates with the rhythm of time. The Rastoke are also subject to a very unstable equilibrium in the relationship between nature and humans. On the night of March 6th to 7th, 1914, the travertine barrier slipped through the undermining of the centuries-old course of the Korana. The appearance of the two most beautiful waterfalls Hrvoje and Vilina kosa ( fairy hair ) has been changed forever. Huge travertine rocks, through which the Korana roaringly works, still hinder its course today.
In 1962 the district of Rastoke was placed under the protection of the Croatian Conservatory Institute and in 1969 under monument protection. Nevertheless, with the construction of the bridges over the Korana and the Slunjčica, the overall architectural appearance of the district was changed.
During the Croatian War (1991-1995), many of the centuries-old houses were partially destroyed. In particular, the attempted demolition of the road bridge over the Korana by Serbian militants before they left the city in August 1995 caused considerable damage to the roofs of the old houses. Numerous houses burned out. Incidentally, the road bridge was only insignificantly damaged by this unprofessional demolition and was opened to traffic a few months later. It is all the worse, however, that Serbian paramilitaries , many of whom actually consider this area to be their home, blew up the large Buk waterfall during the occupation period . Part of this natural heritage has thus been irreparably destroyed.
After the end of the war, this historical part of Slunj was rebuilt, so nowadays you can hardly notice the damage. Today the district of Rastoke represents the basis for the development of the city of Slunj and the area around Slunj. As a village with autochthonous ecological and ethnographic importance, Rastoke is today a tourist center, which is characterized by traditional architecture, gastronomic specialties, specific costumes and cultural customs . The area is increasingly establishing itself as a valuable stopover on the way to or from the Adriatic Sea . Leisure activities in the immediate vicinity include opportunities for swimming, rowing, canoeing , fishing, hunting , mountain biking, caving ( Baraćeve špilje ), horse riding and many other activities.
Film history
In 1962, the first western film in the Winnetou series was shot in Croatia by the Rialto Film Company . The Karl May films were partly shot in the Plitvice Lakes National Park , in the Paklenica National Park , on the Zrmanja River and in Rastoke.
The totem that stands in Rastoke is a remnant of the former film set from the Winnetou film The Treasure in Silver Lake , which was shot in 1962. Most of this film was shot in the Plitvice Lakes National Park. However, the Indian village and saloon were in Slunj. The extra roles were played by local extras. The old medicine man was played by Mile Štrk, who has a legendary reputation in Slunj.
gallery
View of a waterfall from the north side
The Slunjčica flows into the Korana
Mill wheel that is operated by the supply of water
waterfall
Road bridge near Slunj
Small panorama
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Individual evidence
- ↑ Rješenje broj 01-240 / 4-1962 Konzervatorskog zavoda u Zagrebu iz 1962. godine
- ↑ Ministarstvo kulture, Uprava za zaštitu kulturne baštine - Konzervatorski odjel Zagreb. Registarski broj 181.
- ↑ Zakon o zaštiti prirode (NN 54/76)
- ↑ Slunj.net Rastoke - Detaljni plan uređenja, srpanj 2007. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Slovin Unique. Winnetou.
swell
- Meridijani magazine, "Kamo teku Rastoke", issue 9/2002, No. 67, p. 6, author: Ozimec Roman
literature
- Toma Žalac: Rastoke: Na slapovima Slunjčice , Regionalni zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture, 1990 (Croatian)
