Otočac


Otočac is a town in Croatia, former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. It lies in the northwestern part of Lika region, in the Gacka river valley. The population of the administrative area of the Town of Otočac was 9,778 in 2011, with 4,240 in Otočac itself, the majority of whom were Croats.

Name

The town is known as Otocsán in Hungarian, Ottocio in Italian, and Ottocium in Latin.
In historical sources, the name has been rendered as Ottochaz, Ottocaz, and Ottotschaz, Ottotschan, & Ottocsaz.

History

Otočac was named after the early Croatian parish. The text of the famous Baška Tablet says that the church of St. Nicholas in Otočac was part of the order community with the Church of St. Lucy, Jurandvor on the island of Krk. From 1300 on, it belonged to the estate of the Frankopan family. Sigismund Frankopan founded a diocese there. The settlement with a defence tower, at a bend in the river Gacka, was protected by a towered fort. After the fort's demolition in 1829, only parts remained preserved. To provide a safer defence, a Renaissance-era castle was built in 1619, with a triangular layout of cylindrical towers.
The Baroque parish church of the Holy Trinity, erected in 1684, is a large one-nave building with rounded sanctuary; three side chapels are on each side of the nave. The bell tower rises from the main front. The late baroque and classicist furnishings of the church include seven altars, a pulpit, baptismal font and sepulchral slabs from the 18th century.
From 1746, Otočac was the headquarters of a regiment of the Croatian Military Frontier,. A number of harmonious, simple, mostly two-story houses originate from this period. Until 1918, Otočac was part of the Austrian monarchy. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Otočac was part of the Lika-Krbava County of Croatia-Slavonia.

Ecclesiastical History

A bishopric was established in 1460, on territory split from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Senj, which local estate owner Sigismund Frankopan founded at the church of St. Nicholas and Jelena, widow of Juraj Mikuličić, who was a member of the community of the Divine Holy Spirit in Rome, gave to the church three parcels of land. Initially it was suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Salona, later of the Archdiocese of Split. In 1534 it was suppressed and its territory returned to its mother diocese of Senj.

Residential Suffragan Bishops

It was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin titular bishopric.
It had had the following incumbents, so far the fitting Episcopal rank :
According to 2011 census, the Town of Otočac had 9,778 inhabitants, of whom 91.18% were Croats and 7.25% were Serbs. Croats in the vicinity of Otočac form two groups, those who speak Chakavian dialect and Bunjevci, who speak Shtokavian dialect with an Ikavian accent. Serbs form a majority in the villages of Gorići and Staro Selo. The settlement of Otočac itself had population of 4,240.
Before the Croatian War of Independence, the 1991 census lists the greater municipality of Otočac as having 24,992 inhabitants, with 16,355 Croats and 7,781 Serbs.

Geography

Otočac is located in the western part of the karst field of centrally located Gacka, located between Velebit and Mala Kapela, at an elevation of 459m. The town lies to the southeast of Senj, northwest of Gospić and west of Plitvice.
There are two town sections, the Upper Town and Lower Town.

Settlements

Gallery

Notable natives and residents