Skradin is a small town in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia. It is located near the Krka river and at the entrance to the Krka National Park, from Šibenik and from 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 Antiquity, the city was known as Scardon and Scardona, a name attested in the writings of Strabo and Procopius (), Pliny the Elder () and Ptolemy ().
Before the Roman conquest, the settlement was Illyrian, with the particularity of having the locally recurring suffix -ona. The prevailing theory links the root of the Illyrian toponym to a term meaning "steep", as a derivation of *sko/ard(h)-, and it has been compared with the Scardus mountains in southern Illyria. After an initial development in Vulgar Latin in the form -una, the Illyrian suffix was reflected in South Slavic as -in. 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. Though initially located in present-day Eastern Slavonia and Syrmia, the Scordisci might have been allied with the local tribe of the Dalmatae, as mercenaries, which would explain their presence in Dalmatia.
After the Roman conquest, Skradin became an administrative and military centre of the region, and was mentioned as a municipium in 530.
During the 10th century, it was one of the fortified towns in Croatia, as the centre of the Skradin županija.
Skradin under Šubić rule
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 bans, Paul I and Mladen II. The Šubić's built the Turina fortress on the hill overlooking the Skradin harbor. 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. They further enriched the city by constructing several richly-endowed monasteries which housed the Dominicans, Franciscans and other Christian orders.
Decline and Ottoman conquest
thumb|upright=0.8|Skradin after Ottoman conquest in 1574|left
Skradin was conquered by the 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. The 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.
Population
The municipality has a total population of 3,349 (2021 census).
Its population is divided into the following settlements:
- Bićine, population 173
- Bratiškovci, population 233
- Bribir, population 89
- Cicvare, population 12
- Dubravice, population 509
- Gorice, population 22
- Gračac, population 159
- Ićevo, population 78
- Krković, population 151
- Lađevci, population 99
- Međare, population 5
- Piramatovci, population 209
- Plastovo, population 167
- 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
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