Semeljci Explained

Semeljci
Settlement Type:Municipality
Pushpin Map:Croatia Osijek-Baranja County#Croatia
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Croatia
Pushpin Label Position:left
Coordinates:45.36°N 18.54°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Croatia
Subdivision Type1:County
Subdivision Name1: Osijek-Baranja
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Grga Lončarević
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:101.6
Area Urban Km2:27.0
Population As Of:2021
Population Total:3558
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Urban:1025
Population Density Urban Km2:auto
Timezone:Central European Time
Utc Offset:+1

Semeljci (Hungarian: Szemelce) is a village and a municipality in Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia.

Population

In the 2011 census, the municipality had a total of 4,362 inhabitants, in the following settlements:

In the same census, 98.6% of the population were Croats.

Name

The name of the village in Croatian is plural.

Geography

Semeljci is located 13km (08miles) east of Đakovo, and is bordered by Kešinci, Forkuševci and Koritna.

History

In the 13th century, Semeljci was a large village near present-day Kešinci. In the second half of the 15th century it reverted to the possession of feudal Gorjanskis and was called Somoghka (forest).

Little is known about the village during the Ottoman era, except that it was destroyed during the Ottoman drive towards Vienna, and was rebuilt in 1698.

In 1702, Semeljci had 14 inhabited houses. By 1758, Semeljci had grown to include 95 listed houses and was one of the largest villages that made up the Diocesan estate. The first church was built in 1720. The increased number of people was the main reason that the village became the seat of the Catholic parish by 1754, and the church was enlarged. By the second half of the 19th century, Germans and Hungarians moved into Semeljci, making it a large and ethnically diverse village.

The Germans left the village in 1944, and their houses were inhabited by Croats from various parts of Croatia.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Germans abandoned Bačka to buy property in Semeljci and surrounding villages throughout Đakovština. Cultural interaction with the locals was successful, but short-lived.

Economy

Semeljci is one of the largest agricultural areas in Croatia. In 2005, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce awarded the Golden Kuna in the category of large enterprises to Semeljci for its achievements.

Semeljci includes crop production, an animal feed factory, a grain market, silo operations, livestock production, sorghum broom manufacturing, veterinary services and trade. There are more than 4,000 dairy cows in Ivankovo, the largest farm in Croatia.

Culture

Sources

Notes and References

  1. cs1.
  2. Web site: hr. 10 godina TO Rapsodija uz Najbolje hrvatske tamburaše. Croatian Radio – Radio Osijek. 10 June 2024.