Bribir, Šibenik-Knin County

Bribir
Village
Bribir Location in Croatia
Coordinates: 43°55′N 15°50′E
Country	Croatia
County	Šibenik-Knin County
Municipality	Skradin
Elevation	229 m (751 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	103
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Bribir is a village in Šibenik-Knin County, near the town of Skradin, southern Croatia.

Geography

The village is located at the foot of the hill of Bribir, in the Ravni Kotari geographical region. It is 12 km from Skradin.

History

In the Roman period, the town (municipium) of Varvaria was created in the 1st century AD at the hill of Bribir (Croatian: Bribirska glavica), which is now an archaeological site. Up until the Roman conquest, the Liburnians had inhabited the region, giving their name to the Roman province of Liburnia. Pliny the Elder mentioned Varvarini as one of 14 municipalities under the jurisdiction of Scardona (Skradin). In the Migration Period, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the region switched hands, being occupied by the Ostrogoths, Byzantines and then Croats.

In De Administrando Imperio (950s), Berber is one of the counties part of Littoral Croatia. Bribir achieved its peak in the 13th and 14th century, during the period when the members of Šubić family ruled over Croatia as the Bans of Croatia. Šubićs were called nobiles, comites or principes Breberienses (Princes of Breber, Croatian: Knezovi bribirski). They built a large palace on the hill of Bribir, an ideal place to control the surrounding territory, overseeing all roads and approaches from the sea to the hinterland.

The town was settled by Orthodox population in the 16th century. It was part of the war-time Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991–1995).

Buildings and monuments

• Remains of Roman and medieval buildings
• Remains of Roman-era city-walls, with medieval defensive tower
• Late antique rotunda (below SS Joachim and Ann) and Early Christian mausoleum with sarcophagi
• Roman-era nymphaeum with mosaics
• Early medieval cemetery Vratnice from ca. 9th century
• Remains of Romanesque-style church from ca. 13th century
• Remains of St Mary church and Franciscan monastery from ca. 1300
• Remains of Gothic-style church from ca. 14th century
• Serbian Orthodox Church (Temple) of St. Joachim and Anne, built in 1574
• Remains of Ottoman-Venetian defensive tower

Demographic history

In the 2011 census, the village had 103 inhabitants.

Demographic history

Ethnic group	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Serbs	665	528	454	517 (94.17%)
Croats	37	18	28	21 (3.82%)
Others	4	34	86	11
Total	706	580	568	549	79	103

Further reading

• Zlatni vijek Bribira (in Croatian)
• A. Milošević, Bribir: Past and the Monuments[1]
• Bibliography of works on Bribir on Varvaria-Breberium-Bribir website [2]