Ilok
Encyclopedia
Ilok is the easternmost town and municipality in Croatia
. Located in the Syrmia
region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube
river, which forms the border with the Vojvodina
region of Serbia
. The population of the town of Ilok is 5,036, while the total municipality population is 6,750 (census 2011). The town is home to a Franciscan
monastery and Ilok Castle
, which is a popular day trip for domestic tourists.
, the town is known as Ilok, in German
as Illok, in Hungarian
as Újlak and in Turkish
as Uyluk.
In Hungarian language "Újlak" means "new dwelling or lodge".
Ilok is home to the largest Slovak minority in Croatia.
Ethnic groups in the Ilok municipality (2001 census):
The area of present-day Ilok was populated since the neolithic and Bronze Age
s. The Romans
settled there in the 1st or 2nd century and built Cucium, the first border fortification on the Danube
. The Slavs settled here in the 6th century, and the Croats
arrived here probably after the collapse of the second Avar Khanate
. The area was later ruled by the Bulgarian Empire
, until it was included into the medieval Kingdom of Hungary
.
In 12th and 13th centuries the market-town of Ilok was mentioned in documents under various names (Iwnlak, Vilak, Vylok, Wyhok, Wylak). At the end of the 13th century, Hungarian kings gave the Vylak castrum to the powerful Csák
noble family. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Ilok was a capital of the semi-independent medieval state of Upper Syrmia
ruled by Ugrin Csák
.
After 1354, the town of Ilok belonged to Nicholas and Paul Garay
(in South Slavic references Gorjanski), and then to Nicholas Kont of Orahovica
and his descendants, among which was his great-grandson Nicholas
and the last member of the Iločki family
- Laurence of Ilok. Nicholas of Ilok was the Ban of the "whole Slavonia
" from 1457 to 1463, and his son, Laurence was a duke of Syrmia
from 1477 to 1524.
Since 1526, the town was under Ottoman
rule. During this time, it was mainly populated by Muslims
. In 1566-9, Ilok had 238 Muslim and 27 Christian houses. In 1572, it had 386 Muslim, and 18 Christian houses. In 1669, the population of Ilok numbered 1,160 houses, and town possessed two mosque
s. In 1697, Habsburg
army took Ilok from the Ottomans and Muslim population fled from the town.
During the Habsburg rule, Ilok belonged to the Kingdom of Slavonia
, a Habsburg province that belonged to both, the Kingdom of Croatia
, and the Kingdom of Hungary
. Between 1849 and 1868, the Kingdom of Slavonia was completely separate Habsburg crownland, and in 1868 it was joined with the Kingdom of Croatia to form the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
.
In 1918, Ilok first became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, and then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
). Between 1939 and 1941 it belonged to the Banovina of Croatia
, one of the provinces of the Kingdom. Between 1941 and 1944, it belonged to the Independent State of Croatia
, and since 1945, it was part of the People's Republic of Croatia
within new Socialist Yugoslavia.
On October 17, 1991 during the beginning of the Croatian war of independence
, the Croats and other non-Serbs of Ilok fled as the Yugoslav National Army led by Serbs paramilitaries occupied the area, but spared it from destruction due to its rapid surrounding and occupation. Between 1991 and 1995, Ilok was part of the Republic of Serb Krajina. The area was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia
in 1998, with the exception of island of Šarengrad
on Danube, which is still under the control of Serbia
.
Ilok is a transit-tourist, port and border town on the Danube, known as the easternmost place in Croatia. The important cultural and historical heritage with Gothic churches being the most distinguished objects representing the borderline between the western and eastern art, as well as the relicts of Islam
ic architecture make Ilok a very interesting town of this part of Croatia.
Ilok is also the centre of the rich wine-growing region. The grape harvest of Ilok represents a traditional annual event in the town (end of September, beginning of October). The Ilok wines (Traminer, Burgundy, Grasevina) as well as the excellent Ilok cuisine are famous beyond the Croatian borders.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Located in the Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
river, which forms the border with the Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
region of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. The population of the town of Ilok is 5,036, while the total municipality population is 6,750 (census 2011). The town is home to a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monastery and Ilok Castle
Ilok Castle
Ilok Castle is a castle in Ilok, eastern Croatia....
, which is a popular day trip for domestic tourists.
Name
In CroatianCroatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
, the town is known as Ilok, in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as Illok, in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
as Újlak and in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
as Uyluk.
In Hungarian language "Újlak" means "new dwelling or lodge".
Demographics
In 2011 census, the total population of Ilok was 6,750, in the following settlements:- BapskaBapskaBapska is a village in eastern Croatia. It is located south of Šarengrad and north of Šid, Serbia....
, population 940 - Ilok, population 5,036
- MohovoMohovoMohovo is a village in Croatia. It is located by the Danube, connected by the D2 highway to Opatovac in the west and Šarengrad to the east....
, population 236 - ŠarengradŠarengradŠarengrad is a village in Croatia. Village is located in Syrmia region, on Fruška Gora slopes, next to the Danube river. Together with villages of Bapska and Mohovo, it is part of Ilok municipality. Today, the village contains approximately 600 people, the majority of which are Croats.-External...
, population 524
Ilok is home to the largest Slovak minority in Croatia.
Ethnic groups in the Ilok municipality (2001 census):
- 76.94% CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
- 12.50% SlovaksSlovaksThe Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
- 6.78% SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
- 1.17% Hungarians
History
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
s. The Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
settled there in the 1st or 2nd century and built Cucium, the first border fortification on the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. The Slavs settled here in the 6th century, and the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
arrived here probably after the collapse of the second Avar Khanate
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
. The area was later ruled by the Bulgarian Empire
Bulgarian Empire
Bulgarian Empire is a term used to describe two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, during which it acted as a key regional power in Europe in general and in Southeastern Europe in particular, rivalling Byzantium...
, until it was included into the medieval Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
.
In 12th and 13th centuries the market-town of Ilok was mentioned in documents under various names (Iwnlak, Vilak, Vylok, Wyhok, Wylak). At the end of the 13th century, Hungarian kings gave the Vylak castrum to the powerful Csák
Csák (family)
Csák was the name of a gens in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum records that the ancestor of the family was Szabolcs, son of chieftain Előd, the leader of one of the seven Magyar tribes. The family was probably connected to the Árpád dynasty...
noble family. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Ilok was a capital of the semi-independent medieval state of Upper Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
ruled by Ugrin Csák
Ugrin Csák
Ugrin Csák was a prominent Hungarian nobleman and oligarch in the early 14th century.-Ugrin Csák as an oligarch:...
.
After 1354, the town of Ilok belonged to Nicholas and Paul Garay
Gorjanski
Garay or Garai were a Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary, a branch of the Dorozsma clan, with notable members in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were lords of Csesznek.-Name and origin:...
(in South Slavic references Gorjanski), and then to Nicholas Kont of Orahovica
Nikola Kont Orahovički (Iločki)
Nikola Kont Orahovički , , was a Croato-Hungarian nobleman, very powerful and influential in the royal court of king Louis the Angevin, serving as Count palatine...
and his descendants, among which was his great-grandson Nicholas
Nicholas of Ilok
Nicholas of Ilok was Ban of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia and Mačva, Voivode of Transylvania and nominal King of Bosnia from 1471 until his death....
and the last member of the Iločki family
House of Iločki
The House of Iločki , in old sources de Illoch, de Wylak, de Voilack etc., Hungarian: Újlaki) was a Croatian noble family, descended in the male line from Gug , a member of the lower nobility in the region of Lower Slavonia during the 13th century.The Iločki, meaning "those of Ilok", rose to be a...
- Laurence of Ilok. Nicholas of Ilok was the Ban of the "whole Slavonia
Banovina of Slavonia
The Banovina of Slavonia was a province of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia. It included parts of present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina...
" from 1457 to 1463, and his son, Laurence was a duke of Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
from 1477 to 1524.
Since 1526, the town was under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule. During this time, it was mainly populated by Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. In 1566-9, Ilok had 238 Muslim and 27 Christian houses. In 1572, it had 386 Muslim, and 18 Christian houses. In 1669, the population of Ilok numbered 1,160 houses, and town possessed two mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s. In 1697, Habsburg
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
army took Ilok from the Ottomans and Muslim population fled from the town.
During the Habsburg rule, Ilok belonged to the Kingdom of Slavonia
Kingdom of Slavonia
The Kingdom of Slavonia was a province of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austrian Empire that existed from 1699 to 1868. The province included northern parts of present-day regions of Slavonia and Syrmia...
, a Habsburg province that belonged to both, the Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)
The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years...
, and the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. Between 1849 and 1868, the Kingdom of Slavonia was completely separate Habsburg crownland, and in 1868 it was joined with the Kingdom of Croatia to form the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia or Croatia Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was part of the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania...
.
In 1918, Ilok first became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, and then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
). Between 1939 and 1941 it belonged to the Banovina of Croatia
Banovina of Croatia
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1943 . Its capital was at Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia...
, one of the provinces of the Kingdom. Between 1941 and 1944, it belonged to the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, and since 1945, it was part of the People's Republic of Croatia
History of Croatia
Croatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
within new Socialist Yugoslavia.
On October 17, 1991 during the beginning of the Croatian war of independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, the Croats and other non-Serbs of Ilok fled as the Yugoslav National Army led by Serbs paramilitaries occupied the area, but spared it from destruction due to its rapid surrounding and occupation. Between 1991 and 1995, Ilok was part of the Republic of Serb Krajina. The area was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
in 1998, with the exception of island of Šarengrad
Island of Šarengrad
Island of Šarengrad is a Danube river island situated close to the village of Šarengrad in Croatia. The island was formed in 1909 with the construction of the Mohovo-Šarengrad canal....
on Danube, which is still under the control of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Tourism
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic architecture make Ilok a very interesting town of this part of Croatia.
Ilok is also the centre of the rich wine-growing region. The grape harvest of Ilok represents a traditional annual event in the town (end of September, beginning of October). The Ilok wines (Traminer, Burgundy, Grasevina) as well as the excellent Ilok cuisine are famous beyond the Croatian borders.