Obrovac, Croatia
town and settlement in Zadar County, Croatia
Obrovac (pronounced [ɔbrɔ̌ːʋats]) is a town located in northern Dalmatia, in the Zadar County of Croatia. The Obrovac municipality has a total population of 4,323 people. The town is located in the canyon of the river Zrmanja.
Geography
Obrovac is a town on the Zrmanja River some 11 km from the mouth of the river of the Novigrad sea. Above the town are the ruins of a fortified city. Not far from its tributary, the town of Krupa, there is a monastery with a valuable icon collection. About 2 km (1.24 mi) north-west of the town, along the road heading up to the mountains, lies a huge deserted industrial complex, an alumina plant built in the 1970s. South of the town there is extraordinary Bijela River canyon with a lot of waterfalls and small ponds and pools.
History
The Croatian noble family Kurjaković, also known as the Counts of Krbava, were the first rulers of the town of Obrovac, which was first mentioned in 1337 under the name Obrouec. In 1527 Obrovac was taken over by the Ottoman Turks.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Obrovac, Croatia” as town and settlement in Zadar County, Croatia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town and settlement in Zadar County, Croatia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q988388. VIAF identifies the subject as 244974380. Authority coordinates are 44.199, 15.682. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1337 and 1527.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Obrovac, Croatia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Obrovac, Croatia primary sources, Obrovac, Croatia archive and Obrovac research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Obrovac, Croatia”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Obrovac, Croatia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.