History of Šestanovac

Croats inhabit this area since 626 and soon create the Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia under the first Croatian king Tomislav. The area of Šestanovac in the Middle Ages was called Radobilja, a parish that was often under attack by the Turks. The Turkish force was defeated with the help of Venetians, but soon came the end of the French rule under which it had flourished. Schools with official Croatian language are being established, roads are being built. With the fall of Napoleon the French authorities also collapsed, so until the end of World War I Austria ruled this area. Today, in the area of Šestanovac municipality, life has been intensely developing even in prehistoric times, and that was contributed by the river Cetina, an area suitable for farming and cattle breeding, which is witnessed by a series of following archeological sites: • Neolithic archaeological site Velika Peć, not far from the Grabovac settlement • eneolithic fort Orje (Žeževica) • fort Dobrkovci – The Bronze Age (Kreševo Polje) • fort Gola Glava – The Bronze Age (Katuni Polje) • Bobovac – The Bronze Age (Šestanovac) • fort Trbotor – The Iron Age (Žeževica) During the 1st millennium BC, our region, as well as the most of Central Dalmatia, was ruled by the mighty Illyrian Dalmatian tribe (Delmati). The Dalmatians lived in the fortified settlements that had been built on difficult to reach elevations from which they could easily control the mainland. Most Dalmatians were cattle-breeders, and the rest of them were farmers. In the long-lasting wars with the Romans, the Dalmatians were known for their bitter resistance. During the war with the Romans, which lasted from the year 156 BC until 9 AD they succeeded 1in inflicting many defeats. In one of the conflicts with the Dalmatians, 34 BC Octavian himself was wounded (since 27 BC under the name August he becomes the first Roman emperor). Despite the brave resistance, the Dalmatians were nevertheless subject to superior Roman legions. The victory over the Illyrians in year 9 AD the Romans approached the pacification of Dalmatia, followed by the period of peace until the year 378 (until the great migration of the people). The establishment of Roman cities and settlements in the Dalmatian hinterland caused the construction of a dense road network, the economic flourishing of the Illyrian population, as well as its rapid romanization.

Two Roman vicinal (sideway) roads have been identified in our area: • Tronum (Cista Velika) – Katunske vlake (crossing of two neighboring roads) – Katuni Polje – Kreševo Polje – Poljica • Katunske vlake – Grguša – Gornja Žeževica (east of the Bekavci village) – Grabovac, on all these vicinal roads “spurile” (ruts) can be seen. The Romans left traces in our region at the following archaeological sites: • Bobovac (Šestanovac) • Fort Nezgrija (Kreševo Brdo) • fort Jastreb (Žeževica) • Roman observatory at the Katun vlake (Katuni Brdo) • remains of Ville rustice (Kreševo Polje). It is also important to note that it is assumed that in the area of Radonja in the village of Katuni Polje there was a smaller Roman settlement, and this is accompanied by the finds of larger quantities of pottery by the local population in the cultivation of land. At the beginning of the 6th century, Christianity penetrates into our area, and during this period an early Christian church was built on Gola Glava and Katuni. The old Christian church in Katuni had a semicircular apse on the eastern side, and on the foundations of the old Croatian church dating from the 9th century, while at the beginning of the 18th century, with the ruin of the old Croatian church, the local population built the current old church. It is important to point out that in Grabovac on an old stone house in village Tadići, there are three fragments of old-Christian decorated partitions (parts of the altar partition), archaeologists assume that the fragments from the former oratory – an old Christian house that had the function of a place of worship at the very beginning of the penetration of Christianity on pagus (village) in the hinterland of the former Roman province of Dalmatia. It is assumed that the oratory was located in the area of Crkvina. It is concluded that for 1500 years Christianity has been present in our area. At the beginning of the 7th century after the victory over Avar, the Croats settled on the area from Drava to the Adriatic, where they founded two great principalities and several smaller ones. Our area was then part of Dalmatian Croatia, and since year 925 the part of the Croatian kingdom.