a Požega Valley is not designated as an official region, it is a geographic region only.
b The figure is an approximation based on the territorial span and population of the municipalities bounded by Psunj, Papuk, Krndija, Požeška Gora and Dilj mountains and hills.
The Požega Valley (Croatian: Požeška kotlina) is a geographic microregion of Croatia, located in central Slavonia, encompassing the eastern part of the Požega-Slavonia County. It is located in the Pannonian Basin, bounded by Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains from west and north, and Požeška Gora and Dilj from south and east, as the Pannonian plain is interspersed by horst and graben structures. The largest settlement in the region is the city of Požega, followed by Pleternica and Kutjevo. The main watercourse in the region is Orljava River. The region covers 1,249 square kilometres (482 square miles) and has a population of 60,599.
The Požega Valley was first inhabited in the prehistoric era, with archaeological finds spanning the Neolithic to classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, the period to which the oldest surviving historical records of the region date. Between the 13th and the 16th centuries, the region was organized as the centre of the Požega County and a royal estate. Ottoman rule in the region lasted for about 150 years—from the 1530s to the 1680s. During that time, the area was the centre of Sanjak of Pojega. Subsequently, the city of Osijek became the administrative and military centre of the newly formed Kingdom of Slavonia from Požega.
The Požega Valley is a geographic microregion of Croatia, located in central Slavonia, enveloped by the Slavonian mountains.[1] It consists of southern slopes of 984-metre (3,228 ft) Psunj, 953-metre (3,127 ft) Papuk, and 792-metre (2,598 ft) The Krndija mountains, the northern slopes of 618-metre (2,028 ft) Požeška Gora and 461-metre (1,512 ft) the Dilj hills, and lowland is surrounded by the mountains and hills—occupying the eastern part of Požega-Slavonia County.
The main watercourse in the region is the 89 kilometres (55 miles) long Orljava River,[2] rising in Psunj, flowing along the southern rim of the valley through Požega and Pleternica before leaving the valley through a gap between Požeška Gora and Dilj near its confluence with the Sava River. It receives water from numerous smaller watercourses—Londža is the most significant.[3][4] The region, as with most of Croatia, enjoys a moderately warm and rainy continental climate as defined by the Köppen climate classification.[5]
The region encompasses three cities—Kutjevo, Pleternica and Požega—and five municipalities—Brestovac, Čaglin, Jakšić, Kaptol and Velika.[3] The largest settlement in the region is the city of Požega, with an urban population of 19,506.[6] The region's 1,249 square kilometres (482 square miles) supports a population of 60,599, with a population density of 48.518/km2 (125.66/sq mi).[4]
Cities and municipalities of the Požega Valley by area and population size
The Požega Valley is entirely located in the Pannonian Basin, one of three major geomorphological parts of Croatia.[8] The Pannonian Basin took shape through Miocenian thinning and the subsidence of crust structures formed during Late PaleozoicVariscan orogeny. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures are visible in the mountains and hills surrounding the valley. The processes also led to the formation of a stratovolcanic chain in the basin 17 – 12 Mya (million years ago) and intensified subsidence observed until 5 Mya as well as flood basalts about 7.5 Mya.
Contemporary uplift of the Carpathian Mountains prevented water flowing to the Black Sea, and the Pannonian Sea formed in the basin. Sediments were transported to the basin from the uplifting of the Carpathian and Dinaric mountains, with particularly deep fluvial sediments deposited during the Pleistocene with the uplift of the Transdanubian Mountains.[9] Ultimately, up to 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) of the sediment was deposited in the basin, and the Pannonian Sea eventually drained through the Iron Gategorge.[10] In the southern Pannonian Basin, the Neogene to Quaternary sediment depth is normally lower, averaging 500 to 1,500 metres (1,600 to 4,900 feet).[11]
The results of those processes are large plains in eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Syrmia, as well as in river valleys. The plains are interspersed by horst and graben structures, which are believed to have broken the Pannonian Sea surface as islands.[citation needed] Psunj, Papuk and Krndija consist mostly of Paleozoic rocks that are 350 – 300 million years old. Požeška Gora and Dilj consist of much more recent Neogene rocks, but Požeška Gora also contains Upper Cretaceous sediments and igneous rocks forming the main 30-kilometre (19 mi) ridge of the hill and representing the largest igneous landform in Croatia. A smaller igneous landform is also present on Papuk, near Voćin.[12] The two mountains are possible remnants of a volcanic arc related to Alpine orogeny—uplifting of the Dinaric Alps.[13]
History
From the first settlements to the Middle Ages
The Požega Valley has been inhabited since prehistory, as confirmed by remnants of NeolithicStarčevo culture discovered near Požega, as well as Copper and Iron Age finds discovered in areas of Požega, Jakšić and Kaptol.[14][15] The valley was the site of the Roman city of Incerum, thought to have been located in an area between present-day Požega and Velika, where remnants of a Roman villa and graves have been found.[16] The Romans called the valley Golden Valley (Latin: Vallis Aurea, Croatian: Zlatna dolina),[3] and the name is still affectionally used.[17] Finds dated to the Early Middle Ages include 9th-century Avar and Slavic culture items and a 12th-century Benedictineabbey in Rudine at the foot of Psunj. Rudine represents the most important early medieval archaeological find in the region, and items found there include a glagoliticinscription dated to 1129.[14]
Historic records from 1210 describe the region as a part of Požega County and the medieval Kingdom of Croatia, with Požega as the county seat, a fortress (1227) and a royal estate belonging to queens of Hungary.[18] In the 13th and 14th centuries, Franciscans and Dominicans established abbeys in Požega. Cistercians established an abbey in Kutjevo and initiated the region's winegrowing and winemaking traditions. The Cistercian wine cellar in Kutjevo has continuously supported winemaking since it was completed in 1232,[19] making it the oldest continuously-operated winery in Croatia.[20][21] In the early 13th century, the capitulum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs was established in Kaptol, containing a public archive of the region. The archive operated until 1536, when it was evacuated to Hungary ahead of the Ottoman army. The archive was returned to the Croatian State Archives in 1960.[4]
Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary
Following the Battle of Mohács, the Ottomansexpanded their possessions in Slavonia by seizing Đakovo in 1536 and Požega in 1537. In 1540, as Osijek came under Ottoman control, regular administration in Slavonia was introduced by the establishment of the Sanjak of Pojega. Ottoman control in Slavonia expanded and by 1552 conquest was complete.[22] During the Great Turkish War (1667–1698), the Ottomans abandoned the region in 1687[23] and finally liberated in 1689 when Luka Ibrišimović led a revolt in Požega.[24] Subsequently, as Požega County was restored in the region, Osijek became the administrative and military centre of the newly formed Kingdom of Slavonia, unseating Požega.[25]
^Ostroški, Ljiljana, ed. (December 2015). "Geographical and Meteorological Data". Statistički ljetopis Republike Hrvatske 2015 [Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia 2015] (PDF). Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia (in Croatian and English). Vol. 47. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. p. 49. ISSN1333-3305. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
^Ostroški, Ljiljana, ed. (December 2015). "Geographical and Meteorological Data". Statistički ljetopis Republike Hrvatske 2015 [Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia 2015] (PDF). Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia (in Croatian and English). Vol. 47. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. p. 42. ISSN1333-3305. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
^Hrvoje Gračanin (September 2010). "Rimske prometnice i komunikacije u kasnoantičkoj južnoj Panoniji" [Roman roads and communications in the southern Pannonia in late classical antiquity]. Scrinia Slavonica (in Croatian). 10 (1). Hrvatski institut za povijest - Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje: 9–69. ISSN1332-4853. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
^"Požega" [Požega] (in Croatian). Požega-Slavonia County Tourist Board. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
^"Povijesni odjel" [History department] (in Croatian). City of Požega Museum. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
^Mihajlo Ogrizović (March 1972). "Obrazovanje i odgoj mlade generacije i odraslih u Slavoniji za vrijeme NOB" [Education and schooling of youths and adults in Slavonia during the World War II]. Journal - Institute of Croatian History (in Croatian). 1 (1). Institute of Croatian History, Faculty of Philosophy Zagreb: 287–327. ISSN0353-295X. Retrieved 12 March 2012.