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Mrkopalj

Coordinates: 45°19′N 14°51′E / 45.317°N 14.850°E / 45.317; 14.850
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mrkopalj
Municipality
Mrkopalj from Čelimbaša
Mrkopalj from Čelimbaša
Mrkopalj is located in Croatia
Mrkopalj
Mrkopalj
Location of Mrkopalj in Croatia
Coordinates: 45°19′N 14°51′E / 45.317°N 14.850°E / 45.317; 14.850
Country Croatia
CountyPrimorje-Gorski Kotar County
Area
[1]
 • Municipality
156.3 km2 (60.3 sq mi)
 • Urban
42.3 km2 (16.3 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Municipality
924
 • Density5.9/km2 (15/sq mi)
 • Urban
557
 • Urban density13/km2 (34/sq mi)
Websitemrkopalj.hr
Čelimbaša ski resort

Mrkopalj (pronounced [mř̩kɔpaʎ]) is a village and a municipality in the mountainous part of Croatia in the region of Gorski Kotar, located south-east of Delnice and some 50 km east of Rijeka and 831 meters above sea level.

History

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On 11 April 1941, the new NDH authorities made Mrkopalj-born Lovro Sušić [hr], a Frankist, administrator of the kotar of Ogulin.[3]: 349 

When Ante Pavelić arrived in Delnice on 13 April 1941, he was awaited by a small group of Frankists. Along with Ravna Gora and Vrbovsko, Mrkopalj was one of the only places in Gorski Kotar that already had Ustaše. They asked Pavelić for assistance against some Royal Yugoslav Army soldiers who were in the hills nearby, and received from Pavelić a number of Ustaše in response. More concretely, a large group of Yugoslav soldiers had been retreating from the Italian border through Jelenje, Lokve, Mrkopalj and Jasenak. Upon entering Mrkopalj, they were met by a Croat force belonging to Mačekova zaštita [hr], but the Yugoslav soldiers refused to disarm.[3]: 347, 350 

During the mass arrests of late May and early June, the Ustaša administration of Delnice kotar was more tolerant of Serbs than in the neighbouring Vrbovsko and Ogulin kotars. Tuk Vojni was the only Serbian village in Delnice kotar. The Ustaše had a list of 15 prominent Serbs in Tuk that they needed to arrest, but thanks to JRZ members of Mrkopalj and the notary[a] they were not jailed.[3]: 356 

On 9 June, Lovro Sušić, by that time Minister of People's Economy, wrote to in Hrvatski narod, "We don't want a bloody cleansing," (Croatian: Nećemo krvavog čišćenja) but "the Serbs must move" (Croatian: Srbi moraju seliti).[3]: 351 

Demographics

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Municipality map

In the 2011 census, the municipality had 1,214 inhabitants, in the following settlements:[4]

Municipality of Mrkopalj: Population trends 1857–2021
population
3427
3321
3607
3637
3790
3583
2931
3168
3007
3046
2650
2352
2002
1823
1407
1214
924
18571869188018901900191019211931194819531961197119811991200120112021
Note: Originated from the old općina Delnice. Sources: Croatian Bureau of Statistics publications
Village of Mrkopalj: Population trends 1857–2021
population
2065
1909
2063
2052
2030
2001
1631
1732
1700
1823
1590
1450
1222
1196
923
755
557
18571869188018901900191019211931194819531961197119811991200120112021
Sources: Croatian Bureau of Statistics publications

Climate

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A weather station exists there at an elevation of 825 metres (2,707 ft), although under a shelter that compromises the applicability to surroundings. The minimum recorded temperature for the winter of 2024–2025 was −16.2 °C (2.8 °F), on February 20th.[5]

Villages

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In the same census, over 98% of the population were Croats.[6]

Industry

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Mrkopalj was once a relatively important trading town in the Gorski Kotar highlands, where timber and sheep are the main resources.

Mountain snow sports are popular.

Coat of arms

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Emperor Joseph II granted the coat of arms and the status of a free royal market town in 1785. The grant of arms is similar in style with others granted in the period, including the aquarel picture of the coat of arms within a ring containing the inscription (thus making it a seal) and set in a baroque scene with mountains, angel broquate covers, coats of arms of selected Habsburg lands.

The shield is party per fess chief per pale: first chequy gules and argent, second or a lamb passant below a fir tree vert trunked proper issuant from a base also vert, and third azure five cliff spikes argent. The modern community adopted (around 1995) the same coat of arms in a modernized artistic rendition as required by regulations.

The decision on adoption of the coat of arms for Mrkopalj, and the flag was adopted on 12 March 1998 and this was issued in the official gazette in May 1998: Odluka o grbu i zastavi Opcine Mrkopalj, 12.03.1998, Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, br. 11/98, 29. svibnja 1998.

The flag is dark blue with the coat of arms bordered yellow in the middle.

Notable residents

[edit]
[edit]

American author Jennifer Wilson's 2011 non-fiction book, Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters, takes place in Mrkopalj. She and her husband and two children spent seven months in the village, to reconnect to her immigrant maternal grandparents' relatives and culture.[7][8][9]

[edit]
  • Viewed from Kosa
    Viewed from Kosa
  • Gravel road
    Gravel road
  • Near Matić poljana
    Near Matić poljana

Notes

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  1. ^ "bilježniku Peri Sinku"[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Register of spatial units of the State Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Croatia. Wikidata Q119585703.
  2. ^ "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements" (xlsx). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Škiljan, Filip (2011-12-01). "Teror ustaškog režima nad srpskim stanovništvom na području kotareva Vrbovsko, Delnice i Ogulin u proljeće i ljeto 1941. godine" [Terror of the Ustasha Regime against the Serbian Population in the Territory of the Vrbovsko, Delnice and Ogulin Districts in the Spring and Summer 1941]. Radovi Zavoda za hrvatsku povijest Filozofskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu: Radovi Zavoda za hrvatsku povijest Filozofskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu (in Croatian). 43 (1): 343–372. eISSN 1849-0344.
  4. ^ "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements, 2011 Census: Mrkopalj". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  5. ^ "Mrkopalj**". Pljusak.com. n.d.
  6. ^ "Population by Ethnicity, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census: Mrkopalj". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  7. ^ Prijatel, Patricia (March 15, 2021). "A Family's Search of Who They Are and Where They Came From". Psychology Today. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Nicklay, Deb (April 9, 2012). "Author finds Croatian roots". Globe Gazette. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  9. ^ Steves, Rick (May 5, 2012). "Program 286: Mothers Day: Sweet Home Croatia; An American Mother in Paris". Rick Steves' Europe. Retrieved May 14, 2021.

Further reading

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  • Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža (2013–2024). "Mrkopalj". Hrvatska enciklopedija (online ed.). Archived from the original on 2023-12-28.
  • Crnić, Alojz (1969). "Mrko Polje". Dometi: Književnost, kultura, društvena pitanja. 2 (8–9): 68–69. ISSN 0419-6252.
  • Starčević, Franjo (1969). "Otimanje u cjelinu". Dometi: Književnost, kultura, društvena pitanja. 2 (8–9): 53–55. ISSN 0419-6252.

Dialectology

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Tourism

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  • Kranjčev, Radovan (2002). "Mrkopaljskim krajem: kroz Gorski Kotar". Meridijani: časopis za zemljopis, povijest, ekologiju i putovanja. 9 (68): 6–9. ISSN 1333-7289.
  • Crnić, Štefanija (July 1962). "Mrkopaljski kraj". Hrvatski geografski glasnik. 24: 67–80. ISSN 1331-5854. Archived from the original on 2020-06-24.
  • Hirc, Dragutin (1898) [written 1898-02-08]. "Mrkopalj". Gorski kotar: slike, opisi i putopisi. Illustrated by Václav Lev Anderle. Zagreb: 🖶 Lavoslav Hartman (Kugli i Deutsch). pp. 64–65. Republished as Hirc, Dragutin (1993) [written 1898-02-08]. "Mrkopalj". Gorski kotar: slike, opisi i putopisi. Illustrated by Václav Lev Anderle. Rijeka: 🖶 Tiskara Rijeka. pp. 64–65. ISBN 953-158-004-9.
    • Also: Hirc, Dragutin (1898) [written 1898-02-08]. "Pilarova pećina". Gorski kotar: slike, opisi i putopisi. Illustrated by Václav Lev Anderle. Zagreb: 🖶 Lavoslav Hartman (Kugli i Deutsch). pp. 66–70.
[edit]
  • Media related to Mrkopalj at Wikimedia Commons
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