Vinkovci (pronounced[ʋîːŋkoːʋtsi]) is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city settlement's population was 28,111 in the 2021 census, while the total population was 30,842,[2] making it the largest town of the county. It is a local transport hub, particularly because of its railways.
It was called Cibalae in antiquity. There is no known Latin or Greek etymology for Cibalae, so it is assumed to be inherited from an earlier time.[4]Cibale is a toponym derived from geomorphology, from Indo-European *keball- meaning "ascension" or "head".[5] It is assumed that the root is in Proto-Indo-European*ghebhel (head), in the sense of a hill, meaning a place that was protected from the flooding of Bosut.[6]
In other historically and demographically relevant languages the name of the city is German: Winkowitz, Hungarian: Vinkovce, Serbian Cyrillic: Винковци, Rusyn: Винковцѣ, Latin: Colonia Aurelia Cibalae and Ancient Greek: ΚιβέλαιKibelae.
History
The area around Vinkovci has been continually inhabited since the Neolithic period.
The Sopot culture eponym site is Sopot, an archeological site near Vinkovci, which was dated to 5480–3790 BC.[7]
Vučedol culture finds in Vinkovci, generally dated to 3000–2500 BC, include a piece of ceramics dated to 2600 BC with an astral calendar, the first one found in Europe that shows the year starting at the dusk of the first day of spring.[8]
It was made a municipium (the Roman name for town or city) under Hadrian and gained the status of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae during the reign of emperor Caracalla.[9][10] It was the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens. The Roman thermal bath is still preserved underground, along with several other Roman buildings located near the center of today's Vinkovci.[11] The 4th century Battle of Cibalae, between the armies of Constantine the Great and Licinius, was fought nearby. In 2012, the 4th-century Vinkovci Treasure was discovered.
In the Middle Ages, Vinkovci was one of the sites of the Bijelo Brdo culture.[12] The City museum of Vinkovci maintains a survey of thirteen medieval archeological finds in Vinkovci and its surroundings, as of 2010[update].[13]
Kingdom of Hungary stamp canceled with the Hungarian name VINKOVCE in 1874.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Vinkovci was a district capital in the Syrmia County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Zion, the first Zionist organisation in the area of modern-day Croatia was established in Vinkovci.[15] Following the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in 1939, one the main escape routes of Poles from occupied Poland led through Vinkovci towards Trieste and then further to Polish-alliedFrance, where the Polish Army was reconstituted to continue the fight against Germany.[16] From 1941 to 1945, Vinkovci was part of the Independent State of Croatia, whose authorities destroyed the Vinkovci Synagogue in 1941–42, which was among the largest and the most prestigious synagogues in Croatia. From 17 April 1944 the city was heavily bombed by the Allies due to its important position in transportation.[17]
The city and its surroundings were gravely impacted by the 1991–95 Croatian War of Independence. The city was close to the front lines between the forces of Croatia and the rebel Serbs of SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, but it managed to avoid the fate of nearby Vukovar, which was besieged in the infamous Battle of Vukovar. The eastern sections of the town were substantially damaged by shelling, and the nearby village of Cerić was almost completely destroyed. The most significant destruction in the town center were the town library, which burned down to the ground, the town court, the Catholic and Orthodox churches (the Church of Saints Eusebius and Polion and the Church of Pentecost, respectively), both of its hospitals, the town theatre, two cinemas, and a host of businesses and factories. The Church of Pentecost was dynamited by local Croatian forces as retaliation after rebel Serbs forces severely damaged the local Catholic rectory.[18] In December 1995–96, the Vinkovci rail station served as a rail offloading base for the United States Army's 1st Armored Division en route to Županja to cross the Sava River into Bosnia during Operation Joint Endeavor.
The Croatian Army has stationed the headquarters of its Armored-Mechanized Guard Brigade at Vinkovci barracks. The current brigade was formed in 2007 and it incorporated two former guards brigades (3rd and 5th) as well as several other units formed in the 1990s during the war of independence.
Vinkovci is located in the eastern part of the Slavonia region, 19 km (12 mi) southwest of Vukovar, 24 km (15 mi) north of Županja and 43 km (27 mi) south of Osijek. The city lies in a flatland on the Bosut river, at an elevation of approx. 90 metres (300 ft), and has a mild continental climate. Vinkovci is also on the northwestern edge of the smaller subregion of Syrmia.
Its economy is primarily based on trade, transport and food and metal processing. Industries include foodstuff, building material, wood and timber, metal-processing, leather and textile. Due to the surrounding farmland, also notable are farming and livestock breeding, and the town hosts a Crop Improvement Centre.
Vinkovci is also the intersection of the main roads D55 (Županja–Vinkovci–Vukovar), D46 (Đakovo–Vinkovci–Serbian border), D518 (Osijek–Vinkovci) and several regional roads, thereby providing an eastern connection between Podravina and Posavina roads, including motorways (A3 and A5).
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs.[21] At the 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives electionsSerbs of Croatia fulfilled legal requirements to elect 15 members minority councils of the City of Vinkovci while Hungarians of Croatia elected their individual representative with Roma representative remaining unelected due to lack of candidates.[22]
The town features extremely rich cultural and historical heritage, the most interesting attraction being the pre-Romanesque church on Meraja from 1100, with the coats of arms of the kings Koloman and Ladislas, as one of the most important medieval cultural monuments in Croatia. The building was recently renovated, the old wooden beams were removed and a new, modern, upper part and roof made of bricks were added, and in the space thus created, the Art Photography Gallery was opened on July 13, 2014, which has so far managed to realize a very rich program of exhibitions, but maintaining their high standards.
The most famous annual event, one of the biggest in Slavonia, is the traditional folk music festival "Vinkovci Autumns" or Vinkovačke jeseni, which includes the folklore show and the presentation of folk customs of Slavonia. It is characterized by a number of original folk music performances, beautiful traditional costumes, a beauty contest, competitions of the manufacturers of kulen (smoked paprika-flavoured sausage), plum brandy and other traditional foodstuffs, and especially by the magnificent closing parade.
Vinkovci, though it is spelled Vincovci in the book, and its railway station are featured in Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express as the place near which the Orient Express runs into a snowdrift.
A local football club still carries the Latin name for Vinkovci, Cibalia.
References
Bibliography
Cresswell, Peterjon; Atkins, Ismay; Dunn, Lily (10 July 2006). Time Out Croatia (First ed.). London, Berkeley & Toronto: Time Out Group Ltd & Ebury Publishing, Random House Ltd. 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SV1V 2SA. ISBN978-1-904978-70-1. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
^"Povijest grada" (in Croatian). City of Vinkovci. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
^Ivana Iskra Janošić (2001). Urbanization of Cibalae and development of centers for pottery production. Zagreb-Vinkovci. pp. 31–33, 147–150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Edwin Mueller (1961). Handbook of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia Cancellations on the Postage Stamp Issues 1850–1864.
^Barišić Bogišić, Lidija (2022). O neslavenskom stanovništvu na vukovarskom području. Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada. p. 170. ISBN978-953-169-497-1.
^Wróbel, Janusz (2020). "Odbudowa Armii Polskiej u boku sojuszników (1939–1940)". Biuletyn IPN (in Polish). No. 1–2 (170–171). IPN. p. 104. ISSN1641-9561.
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