The Meštrović family home remains the center of Otavice. The sculptor Ivan Meštrović lived there until he was 16. A ten-minute walk from the family home stands the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. It was built between 1928 and 1930 as the Meštrović family tomb. In Otavice, a biographical connection and the family tomb can thus be considered together at two specific locations.
Otavice and the Meštrović family
The church is the final resting place of Ivan Meštrović and his closest family members. They include his parents and siblings, his wife Olga and their children.
The former malaria station was built right next to the family home; it was later damaged. The former elementary school in Otavice is also of cultural-historical and architectural value.
Petrovo polje and its waterways
The Municipality of Ružić lies between the Svilaja and Moseć mountains; Petrovo polje forms its central part. The Čikola River flows through the field. Otavice lies on the eastern edge of Petrovo polje; Svilaja rises behind the village, with pastures and forests. These landscape features can be distinguished: the mountains and field define the location of the municipality as a whole, while the eastern edge of the field and Svilaja behind Otavice pinpoint the village’s location.
Near Otavice, the Otavac stream flows into the Čikola River. A once-important mill and small rapids still remain along the stream. These details complement the broader landscape features with a specific watercourse and evidence of its former use.
Churches and traces of earlier sacred sites
The present-day parish church of St. Elijah in Kljaci was built in 1871. Remains of an Old Croatian church dating from the 9th to 10th centuries were found nearby. Remains of the early Christian Church of St. Peter are preserved in the crypt of the parish church in Gradac. The locations differ: in Gradac, the remains are preserved in the parish church’s crypt, whereas the Old Croatian remains near Kljaci were found close to the present-day church. The Church of the Croatian Martyrs was built in Čavoglave.
Balina glavica: two historical periods
Another historical layer can be explored at Balina glavica in Umljanovići. In the decades before Christ, the fortified Illyrian-Dalmatian city of Sinodium stood there. In the first centuries AD, Municipium Magnum, a significant urban center in the Dalmatian hinterland, occupied the same site. The chronological contrast clearly places the names in sequence: Sinodium belongs to the period before Christ, and Municipium Magnum to the first centuries afterward. Both names refer to the same site, but to distinct periods and different historical contexts.
Discover more destinations: Ružić, Otavice, Čavoglave, Mirlović Polje, Municipality of Primošten, Municipality of Kijevo, Municipality of Rogoznica, Kornati.
For the regional travel overview: Šibenik-Knin County.
