THE STORY OF OUR VILLAGE
- THE STORY OF OUR VILLAGE -
The area of Ličko Petrovo selo has contained a mix of ethnicities since the 15th century when Serbs were invited to settle here to defend the borders of the Austro-Hungarian empire against the Turks.
In 1791 captain Petar Kun beat the Turks under the hill of Čelopek and the next year in 1792 Austro-Hungarian authorities settled border guards to the area where there is the village today. In honour of Petar Kun they called it Petrovo Selo (Petar's Village).
In the 20th century the village had 3000 inhabitants, a local school and even its own hotel. It was one of the first villages in Croatia to receive a water plumbing system.
During WWII the tensions between Croatians (catholics) and Serbian population of the village (orthodox christians) striked. In one terrible act of hostility 1247 inhabitants of the village have been killed as the monument opposite our hotel witnesses.
Neverthelss after WWII this was a thriving area particulary because of the construction of the large military complex nearby in Željava, the village next door. Željava air base was the most expensive military complex in ex-Yugoslavia ever built and to this date still remains the second biggest military airport in Europe.