View source for Skradin

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Skradin
| official_name      = ''Grad Skradin''<br /> Town of Skradin
| other_name         = 
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities and towns in Croatia|Town]]
| image_skyline      = Krka13Chorvatsko9.JPG
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = View of Skradin
| image_flag         = 
| flag_size          = 
| image_seal         = 
| seal_size          = 
| image_shield       = 
| shield_size        = 
| motto              = 
| image_map          = 
| mapsize            = 
| map_caption        = 
| pushpin_map        = Croatia
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Skradin within Croatia
| pushpin_label_position = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| coordinates        = {{coord|43|49|N|15|55|E|region:HR-05|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Croatia}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Regions of Croatia|Region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Dalmatia]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Counties of Croatia|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[File:Flag of Šibenik County.svg|border|23px]] [[Šibenik-Knin County|Šibenik-Knin]]
| established_title  = <!-- Settled -->
| established_date   = 
| established_title2 = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
| established_date2  = 
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_party       = [[Croatian Democratic Union|HDZ]]
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Antonijo Brajković
| leader_title1      = <!-- for places with, say, both a mayor and a city manager -->
| unit_pref          = <!--Enter: Imperial, if Imperial (metric) is desired-->
| area_footnotes     = <ref>{{Cite Q|Q119585703|mode=cs1}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 184.2
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_urban_km2     = 1.1
| area_metro_km2     = 
| elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use <ref> tags-->
| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_ft       = 
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2021">{{Croatian Census 2021|S}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = 2021
| population_total   = 3349
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_urban   = 508
| population_density_urban_km2 = auto
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_metro_km2 = 
| population_note    = 
| timezone           = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| timezone_DST       = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset         = +1
| utc_offset_DST     = +2
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 22222
| area_code          = 022
| blank_name         = 
| blank_info         = 
| website            = {{URL|grad-skradin.hr}}
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Skradin''' is a small town in the [[Šibenik-Knin County]] of [[Croatia]]. It is located near the [[Krka (Croatia)|Krka]] river and at the entrance to the [[Krka National Park]], {{convert|17|km|0|abbr=on}} from [[Šibenik]] and {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=on}} from [[Split, Croatia|Split]]. The main attraction of the park, Slapovi Krke, is a series of waterfalls, the biggest of which, [[Skradinski buk]], was named after Skradin.

==History==
During [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]], the city was known as ''Scardon'' and ''Scardona'', a name attested in the writings of [[Strabo]] and [[Procopius]] ({{langx|grc|Σκάρδων}}), [[Pliny the Elder]] ({{langx|la|Scardona}}) and [[Ptolemy]] ({{langx|grc|Σκaρδῶνα}}).<ref name="Pavlović">{{cite book |last=Pavlović |first=Milivoj |chapter=Les traces des Celtes en Illyricum |trans-chapter=Traces of the Celts in Illyricum |title=Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences |editor-last=Blok |editor-first=Dirk Peter |editor-link=Dick Blok |publisher=Mouton |location=Amsterdam |date=1966 |isbn=9783110995152 |page=373}}</ref>

Before the [[Roman Empire|Roman conquest]], the settlement was [[Illyrians|Illyrian]], with the particularity of having the locally recurring suffix ''-ona''.<ref name="Wilkes">{{cite book |last=Wilkes |first=John |author-link=John Wilkes (archaeologist) |title=The Illyrians |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |location=Oxford |series=The Peoples of Europe |year=1996 |page=71}}</ref> The prevailing theory links the root of the Illyrian toponym to a term meaning "steep", as a derivation of ''*sko/ard(h)-'',<ref name="Georgiev">{{cite book | last=Georgiev | first=Vladimir | title=Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages | publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences | year=1981 | page=172}}</ref><ref name="Polome">{{cite book |last=Polomé |first=Edgar G. |author-link=Edgar C. Polomé |chapter=The Position of Illyrian and Venetic |editor-last1=Birnbaum |editor-first1=Henrik |editor-link1=Henrik Birnbaum |editor-last2=Puhvel |editor-first2=Jaan |editor-link2=Jaan Puhvel |title=Ancient Indo-European Dialects |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |year=1966 |page=61}}</ref> and it has been compared with the [[Šar mountains|Scardus mountains]] in southern Illyria.<ref name=Lafe>{{cite book|last=Lafe|first=Genc|chapter=I rapporti tra toponimi e voci ereditate dell'albanese sulla base dell'analisi della loro evoluzione fonetica|title=Albanologu i arvanitëve "Atje kam u shpirtin tim..."|editor1=Shaban Sinani|editor2=Francesco Altimari|editor3=Matteo Mandalà|publisher=[[Academy of Sciences of Albania]]|year=2022|isbn=978-9928-339-74-4|pages=355–370}} p. 363.</ref> After an initial development in [[Vulgar Latin]] in the form ''-una'', the Illyrian suffix was reflected in [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] as ''-in''.<ref name="Ureland">{{cite book | last=Ureland | first=P.S. | title=Convergence and Divergence of European Languages | publisher=Logos | series=Studies in eurolinguistics | year=2003 | page=356}}</ref><ref name="Deretić">{{cite book |last=Detelić |first=Mirjana |title=Epski gradovi. Leksikon |trans-title=Epic Cities. A lexicon |date=2007 |publisher=Balkanološkog instituta SANU |location=Belgrade |isbn=9788671790406 |pages=389–390 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dk0WAQAAIAAJ}}.</ref> The survival of several of such toponyms in the area (e.g. [[Solin]] from Salona, [[Labin]] from Albona etc) points to the continuation of Illyrian settlements since ancient times.<ref name="Ureland" /> Another, more peripheral, theory says the root of the name might be related to that of the [[Scordisci]], a [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes|Celtic]] or Illyrian tribe.<ref name="Pavlović" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Shaposhnikov |first=Alexander K. |title=Materialy k jetimologicheskomu slovarju slavjanskih drevnostej Grecii II |trans-title=Materials for the etymological dictionary of Slavic antiquities of Greece II |journal=Proceedings of the V.V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute |volume=8 |date=2016 |page=178}}</ref> Though initially located in present-day [[Slavonia|Eastern Slavonia]] and [[Syrmia]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Šašel Kos |first=Marjeta |author-link=Marjeta Šašel Kos |title=Appian and Illyricum |date=2005 |publisher=Narodni muzej Slovenije |location=Ljubljana |page=142 |isbn=9789616169363}}</ref> the Scordisci might have been allied with the local tribe of the [[Dalmatae]], as mercenaries, which would explain their presence in [[Dalmatia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Šašel Kos |first=Marjeta |author-link=Marjeta Šašel Kos |title=Appian and Illyricum |date=2005 |publisher=Narodni muzej Slovenije |location=Ljubljana |page=302 |isbn=9789616169363}}</ref>

After the Roman conquest, Skradin became an administrative and military centre of the region, and was mentioned as a [[municipium]] in 530.<ref name="Deretić" /> It was destroyed during the [[Migration Period]] in the 7th century, and restored under [[Croatian king|Croatian rulers]] in [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Skradin |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/skradin |access-date=2025-09-20 |website=[[Hrvatska enciklopedija]] |language=hr}}</ref>

During the 10th century, it was one of the fortified towns in Croatia, as the centre of the Skradin županija.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

===Skradin under Šubić rule===
[[File:Skradin - tvrđava.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Turina Fortress above the town|left]]
In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Skradin flourished as the capital of the [[Šubić family|Šubić]] [[Ban of Croatia|bans]], [[Paul I Šubić of Bribir|Paul I]] and [[Mladen II Šubić of Bribir|Mladen II]]. The Šubić's built the Turina fortress on the hill overlooking the Skradin harbor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/dalmacija/sibenik/clanak/id/108953/turina-i-dalje-u-mraku--grad-spomenik-gubi-identitet |title=Turina i dalje u mraku - grad spomenik gubi identitet > Slobodna Dalmacija |access-date=2019-04-16 |archive-date=2019-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416175306/https://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/dalmacija/sibenik/clanak/id/108953/turina-i-dalje-u-mraku--grad-spomenik-gubi-identitet |url-status=dead }}</ref> They elevated the settlement below the fortress to a free city, at which point it also became a commune, and was granted its own statute and administration.<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=https://repozitorij.hrstud.unizg.hr/islandora/object/hrstud:1190|title = Kulturna i politička povijest grada Skradina u 19. Stoljeću|date = 29 September 2017|publisher = University of Zagreb. Department of Croatian Studies. Division of Croatology|type = info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis|last1 = Erceg|first1 = Anđela}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=236476|title=How Skradin Liberated Itself from the Supremacy of the Princes of Bribir|journal=Prilozi Povijesti Umjetnosti U Dalmaciji|date=24 December 1980|volume=22|issue=1|pages=30–40|last1=Klaić|first1=Nada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=307648|doi=10.31141/zrpfs.2018.55.130.721|title=Pravni položaj žene po odredbama srednjovjekovnog Skradinskog statuta|year=2018|last1=Pezelj|first1=Vilma|last2=Erent Sunko|first2=Zrinka|last3=Harašić|first3=Žaklina|journal=Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta U Splitu|volume=55|issue=4|pages=721–754|s2cid=189512517|doi-access=free}}</ref> They further enriched the city by constructing several richly-endowed monasteries which housed the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Franciscans]] and other Christian orders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/skradin|title=Skradin}}</ref>

===Decline and Ottoman conquest===
[[File:Scardona – città antiqua nella Dalmatia - Camocio Giovanni Francesco - 1574.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Skradin after Ottoman conquest in 1574|left]]
Skradin was conquered by the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] in 1522 and remain part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] until 1684, with a few interruptions. During the [[Ottoman–Venetian wars]], the town was devastated and subsequently relocated.<ref name="Deretić" />

In October 1683, some [[uskoks]] from [[Venetian Dalmatia]], mainly [[Morlachs]] from [[Ravni Kotari]], rose up against the [[Sanjak-bey]] of [[Sanjak of Klis|Klis]] and took Skradin and several other border towns which had been deserted by their Ottoman Muslim population, who was fearing an attack by the Morlachs.<ref name="Samardžić">{{cite book |last=Samardžić |first=Radovan |author-link=Radovan Samardžić |title=Seobe srpskog naroda od XIV do XX veka: zbornik radova posvećen tristagodišnjici velike seobe Srba |trans-title=Migrations of the Serbian people from the 14th to the 20th century: a collection of works dedicated to the three hundredth anniversary of the great migration of the Serbs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QloMAAAAIAAJ |year=1990 |publisher=Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva |location=Belgrade |isbn=9788617015631 |language=sr |page=22}}</ref><ref name="Mayhew">{{cite book |last=Mayhew |first= Tea |title=Dalmatia between Ottoman and Venetian Rule: Contado di Zara 1645-1718 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FqgPAQAAMAAJ |publisher=Viella |location=Rome | year=2008 |page=196 |isbn=9788883343346}}</ref> The [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] finally took Skradin in 1684 and the town recovered under their rule, during the 18th century, becoming the center of a municipality in 1705.<ref name="Deretić" />

Later, it was occupied by [[Napoleon]] as part of the [[Illyrian Provinces|French Empire]], then [[Austria-Hungary]].

In time it lost its importance as the centre of the region, which shifted to Šibenik, and so it stagnated - the [[Diocese of Skradin]] was abandoned in 1828.<ref>Naklada Naprijed, ''The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', pg. 209, Zagreb (1999), {{ISBN|953-178-097-8}}</ref>

==Population==
{{Croatian population data graph |popisi=HRV |upisano=2022-06-04 |područje=Town of Skradin |p1857=4997 |p1869=5711 |p1880=5865 |p1890=6055 |p1900=7019 |p1910=7663 |p1921=8454 |p1931=8634 |p1948=9316 |p1953=10135 |p1961=10294 |p1971=9585 |p1981=8716 |p1991=8027 |p2001=3986 |p2011=3825 |p2021=3349}}

The municipality has a total population of 3,349 (2021 census).
Its population is divided into the following [[naselja|settlements]]:<ref name="census2011">{{Croatian Census 2021|S}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Bićine]], population 173
*[[Bratiškovci]], population 233
*[[Bribir, Šibenik-Knin County|Bribir]], population 89
*[[Cicvare, Šibenik-Knin County|Cicvare]], population 12
*[[Dubravice, Croatia|Dubravice]], population 509
*[[Gorice, Šibenik-Knin County|Gorice]], population 22
*[[Gračac, Šibenik-Knin County|Gračac]], population 159
*[[Ićevo]], population 78
*[[Krković]], population 151
*[[Lađevci, Croatia|Lađevci]], population 99
*[[Međare]], population 5
*[[Piramatovci]], population 209
*[[Plastovo]], population 167
*[[Rupe, Croatia|Rupe]], population 392
*'''Skradin''', population 508
*[[Skradinsko Polje]], population 51
*[[Sonković]], population 297
*[[Vaćani]], population 105
*[[Velika Glava]], population 40
*[[Žažvić]], population 29
*[[Ždrapanj]], population 21
{{div col end}}

==Notable people==
* [[Filip Dominik Bordini]] - priest and bishop
* [[Lujo Marun]] - priest and archaeologist
* [[Josip Mrkica]] - priest and writer
* [[Rüstem Pasha]] - Ottoman leader (birthplace uncertain)
* [[Zdravko Škender]] - singer

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.skradin.hr/}}

{{Subdivisions of Šibenik-Knin County}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Croatia]]
[[Category:Populated places in Šibenik-Knin County]]
[[Category:Cities in ancient Illyria]]
[[Category:Illyrian Croatia]]