Gradina: The Former Site of the Fortress in Kurjak, Croatia

When we have talked to family about Kurjak, they often mention the rock formation on which the fortress is located.  They refer to it as "Gradina."   We tried to get them to explain what that meant, but they assured us that we would recognize it

It turns out, at least according to Wikipedia, that "Gradina is Slavic word for a fortified town."  Again, in the chapter about Kurjak, we read:

"The fortress in Kurjak was built on the high, steep cliff, next to the old road, which it protected.  The Turks took the fortress over and housed their forces in it; around the fortress a small settlement developed in which Serbs and Muslims lived together as is seen from the 1577 census.  Glavinich mentions the Kurjak fortress among the lists of Turkish fortresses and says: “That it is on a high hill and is suitable for defense.”  "

Calling it Gradina is thus a very direct description of what was located on the location.  Here's a picture of Gradina (the graveyard is in the middle of the picture below the hill):

While I was there I had a chance to climb to the top of Gradina and look around.  Here's a few pictures from the view on top.

Unfortunately there aren't any observable remnants from the fortress (our understanding is that the material used to build the fortress was likely taken and reused in the buildings for the surrounding village many hundreds of years ago).  However, in a nearby town (Korenica) there are some remnants of a wall from a fortress that was around during the same era (it is called "Mrsinj Grad").  If you go to Korenica there is a nice 45 minute hike up to the remnant wall for Mrsinj Grad.  Here are pictures of that wall:

In case you are in Korenica and want to do a hike (beyond hiking in Plitvitce Lake), here's the information on the hike for Mrsinj Grad.