Perušić

The municipality of Perušić is located in the very heart of Lika, surrounded by beautiful mountains and mountains, accessible to anyone curious who wants to get to know the untouched nature of this place in Lika. It is located in the southeastern part of Lika, very accessible due to its traffic connections - the exit from the A1 highway, the state road D50 between Otočac and Gospić and the Zagreb-Split-Zagreb railway line.

Throughout history, Perušić was often choked by wars that eventually left behind a cultural and historical heritage that is still visible today. When exiting the highway, the Perušić Tower and the Church of St. Križa, the most famous historical objects of Perušić.

Perušić was mentioned in history for the first time in the 10th century under the name Buška Vrhovina, and it got its current name from the brothers Perušić, Gašpar and Dominik, who came to Perušić in 1487.

THE OLD TOWN OF PERUŠIĆ AND THE CHURCH

The most famous buildings that make Perušić recognizable are the Old Town of Perušić, known as the Turkish Tower and the Church of the Exaltation of St. Crisis. The tower is a fortress built in the shape of a quadrilateral with three watchtowers at three corners. In the middle, there was a round high three-story tower, and it was surrounded by double ramparts. Today, one floor of the central tower has been preserved, and the places that served as guardhouses and positions for cannons during the Ottoman conquests are visible.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is located on the neighboring hill with the Perušić Tower. It is a medieval Gothic church, probably built in the 13th century. It was remodeled in the late Baroque and Rococo style, but for many decades, during the Ottoman period, from 1527 it served as a mosque. The 42-meter-long single-nave church "hides" 28 interior elements that are on the list of cultural monuments. It is adorned with nine rich altars, while at the top of the bell tower there is a gilded cross that was transferred to the Perušić church after the Zagreb Cathedral fire in 1863. Above the entrance door of the church stands the Latin inscription "In hoc signo vinces" - "In this sign you will win", which referred to the victory of the cross over the crescent, that is, Christianity over Islam.

KOSINJ

Lasco de Kosin, where the princes of Kosin dined, was mentioned in 1071 in the document of the Croatian king Petar Krešimir IV. Kosinjska dolina is a unique area that has remained untouched by industrialization and major roads, therefore today it can boast of many natural beauties, primarily a large number of plant and animal species, caves, pits and sinkholes, springs and springs above which stands out the mountain peak Kalić at 969 m.a.s.l. with a far-reaching gaze.

KOSINJA PRINTING SHOP
In Kosinje, it is assumed, the oldest and first Croatian book, the Missal according to the law of the Roman court, was printed for the first time - in 1483. In 1491, the Glagolitic Breviary was printed, the oldest book printed on Croatian soil. The only, but incomplete, copy is kept today in a museum in Venice, and a smaller fragment in the Vatican Library. Just after the invention of the printing press in Germany, the Frankopani founded a printing house in Kosinj. Kosinj was an important church and cultural seat.

KOSIN BRIDGE

The monumental Kosinj bridge is a stone, 70-meter long bridge over the river Lika that connects Gornji and Donji Kosinj. It was designed by Milivoj Frković at the beginning of the 20th century and was built according to the model of ancient Croatian bridge construction, using the "stone wedge" technique. The bridge is also unique due to the openings in the arches, which have the function of relieving the water wave when it hits the bridge.

CAR FIR TREE

One of the natural phenomena is located in Kosinjski Bakovec, where the largest fir tree in Europe is located - the Car fir tree - 42.5 meters high and 5.42 meters in circumference. Her age is unknown, but experts assume that she "lives" for several centuries.

WRITTEN STONE

In the neighborhood of the Car tree, there is a written stone that dates back to the 1st century, when this area was inhabited by Japod tribes, but then the Romans took over and established their rule and rule. Two Japod tribes - the Ortoplini and the Parentini - clashed over the "living water", the source of Begavac, where they watered their cattle, and the Romans decided to settle the dispute with a law written on a kaman whose inscription is still visible today. On the stone is carved - EX CONVENTIONE FINIS INTER ORTOPLINOS ET PARENTINOM ADITVS AD AQVAM VIVAM ORTOPLINIS PASVS D LATVS I -, or in translation - By agreement, border between Ortoplinos and Parentinos, access to living water Ortolinim 500 paces, 1 width".

GRABOVAČA CAVE PARK

Only 2.5 km from the center of Perušić in Lika, there is a series of caves and pits that form a unique park in Croatia, but also the only cave park in Europe - Grabovača Cave Park. On a relatively small area (1.5 km²) we come across 8 caves and one pit, which represents a complex of diverse and rich calcite formations of valuable speleological phenomena and ¼ of the total number of protected speleological objects in Croatia - 3 caves are protected in the category of geomorphological natural monument , and the Samograd cave is the most famous speleological object of the cave park

The Samograd cave is located on the eastern slopes of the Grabovača hill. The entire cave was formed in the Upper Cretaceous limestones along the main crack in the N-S direction. Most of the surface of the cave is covered by a thick, scaly crust, sometimes covered with debris and loam. In the cave there are two sigmoidal bridges, sigmoidal saljev, conical stalagmites and stalactites.

Source: https://tz-perusic.hr/en