Product Code Database
Vinkovci () 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, 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. Cibale is a toponym derived from geomorphology, from Indo-European meaning "ascension" or "head". It is assumed that the root is in Proto-Indo-European (head), in the sense of a hill, meaning a place that was protected from the flooding of Bosut.
In other historically and demographically relevant languages the name of the city is , , Винковци, , and Kibelae.
The Sopot culture eponym site is Sopot, an archeological site near Vinkovci, which was dated to 5480–3790 BC.
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.
In the 2nd century, 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. It was the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens. The Thermae is still preserved underground, along with several other Roman buildings located near the center of today's Vinkovci. The 4th century Battle of Cibalae, between the armies of Constantine the Great and Licinius, was fought nearby. A 4th-century Vinkovci Treasure was discovered in the city in 2012.
In the Middle Ages, Vinkovci was one of the sites of the Bijelo Brdo culture. The City museum of Vinkovci maintains a survey of thirteen medieval archeological finds in Vinkovci and its surroundings, .
From 1526 to 1687 it was part of the Ottoman Empire, administratively located in Syrmia italic=no (whose seat was in Dimitrofça) within the Budin Eyalet. It was captured by the Habsburg Empire in 1687, which was later confirmed by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Until 1918, Vinkovci (named Winkowcze before 1850) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia after the compromise of 1867), in the Slavonian Military Frontier, under the administration of the Brooder Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. VII until 1881.
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 Zionism organisation in the area of modern-day Croatia was established in Vinkovci. Following the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in 1939, one the main escape routes of Polish people from occupied Poland led through Vinkovci towards Trieste and then further to Polish-allied France, where the Polish Army was reconstituted to continue the fight against Germany. 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. On April 13, 1945, as a part of Syrmian Front offensive, Yugoslav Partisans launched an offensive to liberate Vinkovci with Partisan units entering the city by 6 p.m. of the same day. (2025). 9789538489020, Joint Council of Municipalities. ISBN 9789538489020
The volunteer fire department DVD Spačva was founded on 12 July 1960.
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. 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 the 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.
Nearby villages and adjacent municipalities include Ivankovo, Jarmina, Markušica, Nuštar, Privlaka and Stari Jankovci.
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).
Vinkovci railway station is the main railway junction of eastern Croatia, of railroads leading from Bosnia and Herzegovina toward Hungary and from the capital Zagreb toward Belgrade. The large railway junction, after Zagreb the second largest in Croatia, underlies the importance of transit in Vinkovci.
The river Bosut is not a waterway.
The local administration consists of the following local boards (mjesni odbor):
In 2011, it was the 17th largest city in Croatia.
By ethnic group, as of census 2011, the population of Vinkovci is:
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's music school Josip Runjanin is named after the composer of the Croatian national anthem Lijepa naša domovino. The Vinkovci gymnasium is named after Matija Antun Reljković, a Slavonian writer who lived in the city in the 18th century.
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.
The festival program includes children's workshops, a junior gladiator school, reenactments of historical battles, storytelling sessions, and demonstrations of Roman-era pottery making. A local craft beer festival is also held during the event, in honor of Emperor Valens—born in Vinkovci—who was nicknamed Pivopija (beer-lover). The beer festival features special Roman-themed brews named after him.
Since at least 2019, the festival has included Roman military camps, gladiatorial displays, and performances by historical reenactment groups from Croatia and abroad. These events highlight Vinkovci’s role in the late Roman Empire and its distinction as the birthplace of emperors Valens and Valentinian I.
| | |
|
|
|
