The Požega-Slavonija County

The Požega-Slavonija County is one of the smaller Croatian counties. It is located away from the main traffic routes and this is exactly what makes it special. This is a region that breaks the usual notion of a flat Slavonia because as well as boasting plains with fertile fields, this relatively small area also has mountains and hills which at their foot have famous vineyards, and at their tops dense forests.

The Požega-Slavonija County has a long history. In Roman times the Požega basin was called Valis Aurea - Golden Valley. From the Middle Ages we can reliably track the written history of our county, which was first mentioned in 1210.

Lipik is known for its thermal spas and the Lipizzaner stud farm.

Pakrac has been known since the Middle Ages as an important fortress and also had a mint for the production of ‘banovac’ coin.

Požega is a city with a long urban, administrative, cultural, educational, religious and economic tradition.

Pleternica is the famous shrine of Our Lady of Tears and an important traffic intersection.

Kutjevo is one of the best wine destinations in Croatia, where the tradition of viticulture and wine has been ongoing since 1232.

Kaptol has one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in its centre.

Velika, apart from its thermal springs, is also known as a resort and a starting point of the Nature Park Papuk, which has recently gained the status of a European Geopark because of its geological diversity. The well known and recently more frequently visited Sovsko Lake, the only remnant of the former Paratethys (Pannonian) Sea in this area is situated in the Čaglin area in the heart of mount Dilj.

Požega
Požega is located in a fertile valley surrounded by the Slavonian mountain ring Psunja, Papuk, Dilja, Krndija and Požeška Gora. Although located southeast in the Golden Valley, which the Romans called Vallis Aurea, it has been the most important center of central Slavonia for centuries. Its topographic position at the foot of the Old city and the surrounding hills with their vineyards enabled Požega the creation of the medieval fortress that is mentioned in documents from 1227. In the middle of the 18th century Požega got the status of a free, Royal City and as an important cultural, educational, economic and religious center in the 19th century it got the flattering title of „Slavonian Athens”.
From the sites in Požega, the ones that stand out are the monastery and church of St. Duh built around 1285, the Požega Cathedral, the Church of St. Tereza Avilska and the church of St. Lovro - the oldest church in Požega, built in the early 14th century.

Lipik
Lipik is a town known for its spas, mineral water and the stud farm of Lipizzaner horses. The resort and spa are some two hundred years old, but date back to Roman times and there is numerous archaeological evidence which proves it was inhabited even in those times. The health resort flourished in the first half of the 19th century. Then, Count Isidor Jankovic built a new building with three swimming baths. At the same time an inn was built near the thermal source, which became the core around which the village continued to develop. Meanwhile, 25 acres of land were fenced off to make a park, the first alley of trees was planted and the famous Lipizzaner horse-farm was established. The building of Kursalon is the largest and most representative building in Lipik by which this tourist town is recognized. It was built in 1893 on the south side of the park in High Renaissance style. It is interesting that Lipik got electricity in 1894, only six years after New York.

Pakrac
Pakrac was first mentioned in 1229 in within a nobleman’s name Marcel Pakrački (Marcel of Pakrac), although some archeological finds indicate that it was inhabited even in ancient times. The Templars (Catholic order of knights) mentioned the Pakrac fortress from the 12th century. Also mentioned from this period is the first money mint which forged the so called ‘monete banalis’ or ‘banovac’ coin. In the 17th century, after 150 years of Turkish rule, Pakrac got its first owners, among which its development was mostly affected by the family Janković, who built their own manor in it. In the same century the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built, and the city became more and more the center of commerce and craftsmanship, where a hospital, a school, rail track, hotel, court and a private power plant were built. The landmarks that stand out in Pakrac are Spahijski cellar, Janković manor, the castle of Baron Trenk and the old town Čaklovac. In the vicinity of the town there are two resorts: Omanovac and Matkovac as well as the ethno-park Čantalo.

Kutjevo
Kutjevo is located 20 kilometers east of the county center Požega at the foot of mount Krndija. It carries the flattering title of the Croatian wine capital. The Kutjevo Castle was built as a Jesuit residence from1721 to 1735 and is considered one of the most important Baroque buildings in the Požega-Slavonia County. It was built on the site of a medieval Cistercian abbey, which was described in records from 1700 as a ruin. An interesting fact is that important wine cellars remained preserved in the castle. From 1721 to 1735 a new baroque complex with a church and a large residence (castle) was constructed. It became the administrative headquarters and a summer mansion of the Jesuits from a monastery in the nearby Požega.

Pleternica
Pleternica is situated at the point where the river Orljava breaks through Požeška Gora and and Dilj towards Sava, on the so-called gate of Požega`s Golden Valley, surrounded by a wreath of mountains (Psunj, Papuk, Krndija, Dilj and Požeška Gora). The first mention of the settlement dates back to 1270, under the name of St. Nikola, although some sources say that it was first mentioned in1335. The name Pleternica was first mentioned in 1427, when it became a trading center. According to the legend, it was a settlement fenced with wattle - a fence of interlaced twigs, after which it was named.


Source: CNTB