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Wellcome to www.vinkovci.hr

Dear visitors,

Welcome to Vinkovci, the town lying on the banks of the Bosut in the gorgeosly rich and green Slavonian plain !
Welcome to the town of rich heritage in history and culture spreading over seven millennia, the town which has kept in memory the glory and decline of the greatest civilisations, the most atrocious wars and climate shocks.
The town core is still within the walls of the Roman settlement of "Colonia Aurelia Cibalae". Vinkovci was the birth olace of two Roman emperors - Valens and Valentinian. In the 3rd century the town was the seat of an early Christian bishopric. The two local saints, St. Eusebius and St. Polion, belong to this period.
Upon the end of the Middle Age the name of the town of Sveti Ilija was suppressed by its present secular name of Vinkovci, thus witnessing its Croatian inhabitants that had settled in the ruins of the ancient "Cibalae". Owing to the fact that Vinkovci became the military centre of the region in the Hapsburg Monarchy, it developed very fast and actually acquired its present baroque outlook.
The town is proud of its celebrities, such as Josip Šokčević, Croatian viceroy, Josip Runjanin, composer of the Croatian anthem, writers M. A. Relković, Ivan and Josip Kozarac, Vladimir Kovačić, Joza Ivakić, artists Vanja Radauš, Slavko Kopač, Albert Kinert, and many others.
The town is known for its flourishing sports clubs and its national festivals such as "Vinkovačke jeseni", "Commics Salon", "Festival of the Actor's".
Vinkovci is also proud of its school (eight primary and seven secondary schools, a 220 year old grammar school , Faculty of Agriculture), culture (Town Museum, Gallery of Arts, Town Library), sciences (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences branch) and economy (food industry, wood processing and building materials industry, textile industry).
We hope that you will experience a part of our traditional hospitality and take home a pleasant memory of our town.
- Mayor Dr. Mladen Karlić

Town history
Continuity of Urban and Cultural Identity

Archaeology has detected the prehistoric existence of settlements in the locality of Vinkovci, by the Bosut River, in the interflue of three great rivers : Sava, Drava, and the Danube. Also determined were the city's status over the two millenniums of the Christian civilization and its mediaeval, Pannonian and Western Balkanic substrata, with their respective particular features, which - interwoven - make up its recognizable identity.
In the prehistory we can find Neolithic remains of the Starčevac and Sopot cultures, and the eneolithic remains of the Baden and Vučedol cultures; early and middle Bronze Age is represented by the Vinkovci and Vatin cultures, and, of the Iron Age, best represented are objects from the Celtic, i.e. Latenic cultures.
It was on that Celtic substratum that an important Roman settlement had developed on the cross-road of land routes and waterways; at first a municipality, later Colonia Aurelia Cibalae, the city of the military and proprietors elite, transport, trade, and handicraft, equipped with an aqueduct and having an elevated standard of living. The inhabitants of Vinkovci are proud to say that their town was the birth-place of two Roman emperors: Valens and Valentinian.
The mediaeval settlement was called Sveti Ilija (St. Elias) by the patron of the church erected in the part of the town called Meraja around 1100 a.d. In the 14 th century a Gothic church was built next to the old one. An important market place was there, mentioned in Turkish manuscripts (and in the 1967 cenus) under the name of Vinkovci, the autochthonous, popular name, which proves that the ruins of the ancient Cibalae were re-settled by Croats.
During the time of Vojna krajina (the Military Border, 1707-1881) Vinkovci was on the rise. The town became the seat of the Brod Regiment (Brodska pukovnija) and acquired its modern architectural appearance with late baroque two-story buildings in the center and the Sv. Ivan Nepomuk catholic parish church, which is today devoted to the first Christian martyrs, Bishop Eusebius and the gospel lecturer's teacher Polion.
This was also the beginning of education in Vinkovci; primary in 1762, and secondary in the 1762. Today, Vinkovci is the city of numerous kindergartens, elementary and high school, cultural institutions (Municipal Gallery, Museum and Library), seat of the Center for Scientific Work with the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts, the first academy in the Balkans.
Today, according to the recent administrative division of the Republic of Croatia it is the Vukovar-Srijem District (Županija vukovarsko-srijemska).

Tourism in Vinkovci

Tourist trade
Vinkovci with its attractions and its variety of establishments to furnish food and lodgings for visitors could easily develop a growing tourist trade.
Catering
Guesthouses, inns, ("Slavonija", "Lady M", "Motel GEM"...), thirty modern restaurants and motels all offer local dishes. Most of them are located centrally or by motorways not far from the town.
Country tourism
The villages Otok, Ivankovo, Rokovci, Andrijaševci, Lipovac are open for tourism. The Tourist Union has included these villages into the tourist trade. At Otok, near the beautiful Otočki Virovi , which is a phenomenon in itself and next to the virgin forests, country tourism surpasses our expectations. What it offers is hunting, rambling through the woods, fishing, participation in farm work, fresh air and Slavonian cuisine. The beauty of the landscape, traditional customs, feasts, national costumes, merry songs and relaxed rural atmosphere make perfect holidays.
Hunting
This sort of tourism represents an attractive and special branch of tourism with its 100.000 hectares and 36 hunting grounds in the forests of Spačva. The available game is red deer, fallow deer known to European hunters, as well as wild boar and wild fowl. The hunting grounds of Merolino, Spačva and Kunjevci are not far from the town.
Fishing
Fishing also attracts visitors. The rivers at Bosut and Spačva, as well as Otočki Virovi and Bošnjački Virovi furnish ideal fishing grounds for anglers and sports fishermen, being, amongst other fishes, the home of carp, catfish, tench, pike, and perch.

Traditional events in Vinkovci

"Vinkovačke jeseni"
Established 30 years ago, is a tradicional folklore festival of national importance. The very first time it appeared, the festival was well received by the public. It hac become a revue of the cultural heritage of the population of Vinkovci, Slavonia and of Croatia in its entirety, not to mention regular international participants. It is an extremely original, popular and scientific review of genuine folk culture. By bringing people together in a very special way "Vinkovačke jeseni" gives a valuable contribution to conserving ancient customes and collecting invaluable oral literary tradition.
The festival includes a great number of individual manifestations, such as "Vinkovačke jeseni" for Children, "Šokački divani", numerous exhibitions and tourist presentations, concerts, scientific forums, chess and tennis tournaments, the Plum Brandy Fair and The Best Kulen Contest.