By 2025-01-04T06:00:00+00:00 Transport & Infrastructure Oleg Butković attended a ceremony on December 18 to mark the completion of work to renew and electrify the Vinkovci – Vukovar line The €61m project 85% co-financed by the EU included modernisation of the 18·7 km single track line and the stations at Vukovar Borovo Naselje and Vukovar The contract was signed by infrastructure manager HŽ Infra Comsa SA and Comsa Instalaciones Y Sistemas Industriales SA in December 2019 As well as supporting freight traffic to and from the River Danube port of Vukovar the project is intended to raise the raise the maximum speed of passenger services speed from 50 to 120 km/h HŽ Infra it will take two to three months to fully deploy all the safety equipment and processes required CROATIA: HŽ Infrastruktura has awarded Strabag a €55m contract to modernise the line between the Slovenian border and Sveti Petar u Šumi in Istria The work on the 50 km single-track non-electrified route is expected to take three years CROATIA: HŽ Infrastruktura has launched a €620m tender for the modernisation and double-tracking its 83 km Dugo Selo – Novska line The project is co-financed by the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility and the Competitiveness & Cohesion Programme level crossing upgrading and station modernisation on the Vinkovci – Vukovar line was signed by HŽ Infra Comsa SA and Comsa Instalaciones Y Sistemas Industriales SA in Vukovar on December 20 The 18·7 km line connects the Zagreb – Vinkovci .. Site powered by Webvision Cloud Limoges enjoyed a successful start to their life in European club competitions as the French team erased RK Trimo Trebnje's advantage from the first leg to book a ticket for the EHF European League's group stage as the Spanish club overturned the tie against ABC de BRAGA in their favour and they were the only teams to do so while Spacva remained one-goal short of mounting a full comeback against the reigning EHF European Cup winners In the rest of the matches in the qualification round VfL Gummersbach and Bjerringbro-Silkeborg defended their leads in the return legs to confirm their progress to the next phase in the second-tier club competition Maritimo da Madeira Andebol/SAD (POR) vs Ystads IF HF (SWE) 35:33 (15:16) Aware of Madeira's flying start in the first leg Ystads did not let the hosts rush into taking the lead and they were the ones dictating the tempo of the opening half as they held a three-goal lead (6:3) in the ninth minute The Portuguese club tried to narrow down the difference but the energetic visitors stood their ground and took a minimal lead at the break Madeira displayed an improved performance in the second half successfully mounted a comeback and even held a four-goal lead on a few occasions towards the 45th minute the time was not on Madeira's side and Ystads consolidated their ranks to suffer only a two-goal defeat which secured them a place in the EHF European League Men group phase was the match's top scorer with 12 goals to his name while Niclas Ekberg scored 10 for the visitors and ended the tie with 19 goals overall proving his quality in the EHF club competitions once again Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) vs IFK Kristianstad (SWE) 30:28 (15:15) The Spanish club had to work hard in the return leg as Kristianstad displayed an intent to mount a comeback in the tie and the encouraged visitors took a three-goal lead (4:1) in the fifth minute of the match the Swedish club led throughout the first half leaving the tie wide open going into the second half with the teams even at the break Kristianstad's performance started to deteriorate after half-time while Granollers increased the tempo and quickly rushed into a comfortable four-goal lead (20:16) in the 38th minute The Swedish side made a late attempt to get back into the match but Granollers' experience proved crucial and Antonio Jesus Garcia Robledo displayed another excellent performance as the veteran scored eight goals and was the top scorer of the match The 40-year-old Robledo ended the tie with 16 goals to his name and Granollers celebrated making a comeback in the EHF European League's group phase after a one-year absence Elverum Håndball (NOR) vs MT Melsungen (GER) 31:36 (16:17) The hopeful hosts enjoyed a dream start as Elverum held a three-goal lead (7:4) in the eighth minute closing in on Melsungen's advantage from the first leg but it did not take long for Roberto Garcia Parrondo's squad to begin a scoring run and get back into the match The German club's maiden lead (9:8) came in the 15th minute through Dainis Kristopans and from then on Melsungen started the second half on the front foot and their advantage kept on growing as the minutes went by Rogerio Moraes Ferreira was an unsolvable enigma for the hosts' defence as the Brazilian line player scored seven goals from eight attempts and was the game’s top scorer while Nebojsa Simic made 12 saves and recorded a 32 per cent save efficiency ending Elverum's hopes of mounting a comeback in the tie Melsungen celebrated a well-deserved and even more convincing win than the one on home soil leaving a powerful impression ahead of their debut appearance in the EHF European League's group stage.  GC Amicitia Zürich (SUI) vs HC Kriens-Luzern (SUI) 38:34 (16:18) The Swiss derby was full of turnarounds as the Luzern-based club started the match in a better fashion and held a four-goal lead during most of the first half but the hosts narrowed down the difference just before half-time Amicitia Zürich displayed an iron character to get back into the match and the hosts took the lead (26:25) in the 46th minute Kriens-Luzern's six-goal advantage from the first leg played in their hands as Amicitia Zürich ran out of time to mount a full comeback and the visitors celebrated reaching the EHF European League Men group phase in the end Martin Popovski was Amicitia Zürich's top scorer with six goals while the talented duo – Luca Sigrist (9) and Gino Steenaerts (7) – combined for 16 goals together and were the difference-makers in helping Kriens-Luzern get their progress over the line RK Bjelin Spacva Vinkovci (CRO) vs Valur (ISL) 32:24 (19:10) You said no to using cookies or similar tools that help improve your experience. To see this content, you would need to update your Privacy Preferences Limoges Handball (FRA) vs RK Trimo Trebnje (SLO) 35:24 (17:11) The French club did not have the ideal start of the match as the Slovenian runners-up went into an early lead (2:0) but Trimo's advantage did not last long as the electric hosts quickly overturned the game The goals for Limoges were coming in pretty easily while Trimo's path to the opponents' net became more difficult with every passing minute The decisive moment of the match came towards the final ten minutes of the first half when Limoges began a scoring run and built a comfortable lead (17:11) to go into the break the hosts' advantage kept on growing as they displayed an offensive masterclass with five of their players – Seif Elderaa Yusuf and Ogando – scoring at least five goals each Limoges' biggest lead came in the 48th minute when the difference reached 14 goals (31:17) and it was clear that the visitors were all but defeated in France the excellent goalkeeper Dino Slavic recorded 16 saves and noted a sky-high 43 per cent save efficiency which allowed his teammates to fully express themselves at the other end of the court HC Izvidac (BIH) vs HCB Karvina (CZE) 32:26 (19:13) The Bosnian champions began the match powerfully by taking an early three-goal lead (3:0) signalling their motivation to get close to Karvina's advantage from the first leg The visitors from Czechia were left surprised by Izvidac's quality performance as the hosts' lead kept on growing and reached six (19:13) at the break which turned on the alarm in Karvina's ranks as their 11-goal advantage from the first leg was cut in half as they even took an eight-goal (26:18) lead in the 44th minute but Karvina used their rich experience to slow down the tempo of the match and narrowed the difference in the final ten minutes the Bosnian club celebrated a comfortable win with Filip Odak scoring 10 goals for the hosts it was not enough to eclipse Karvina's victory from the first leg and the Czech side progressed to the EHF European League Men group phase while Izvidac will continue their journey in the EHF European Cup this season VfL Gummersbach (GER) vs Mors-Thy Håndbold (DEN) 39:30 (20:16) Even though the German club enjoyed a huge advantage in the tie after the first leg's win the lively hosts did not want to let Mors even think about the possibility of mounting a comeback VfL Gummersbach started the match by taking an eight-goal lead (13:5) in the 15th minute which set the tone for the rest of the return leg The visitors from Denmark narrowed down the difference ahead of the break but Gummersbach still had everything under control The Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson-led squad continued to torment Mors' goal in the second half as only one player did not get on the scoresheet for the hosts while Dominik Kuzmanovic made 10 saves between the posts and recorded an impressive 41 per cent save efficiency Gummersbach celebrated another comfortable win in the end with Teitur Örn Einarsson finishing as the match's top scorer (seven goals) and the German club successfully booking a ticket for the EHF European League's group phase FTC-Green Collect (HUN) vs Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN) 34:32 (16:18) Bjerringbro-Silkeborg win 77:61 on aggregate After the poor performance in the first leg the motivated hosts were determined to display an improved form on home court in front of their supporters in Budapest and FTC looked like a different team in the return leg Bjerringbro-Silkeborg were the better side in the first half and they even held a four-goal lead (18:14) ahead of the break which showed their undisputed quality once again The Hungarian club increased the tempo in the second half and mounted a comeback in the 47th minute FTC successfully held onto the lead to record a close win Silkeborg's advantage from the first leg remained difficult to catch and the visitors booked their place in the EHF European League's group stage Nikolaj Dueholm Læsø Christensen was the match's top scorer with 11 goals while Mátyás Gyori scored nine goals for the defeated hosts Abanca Ademar Leon (ESP) vs ABC de BRAGA (POR) 31:27 (15:12) The ambitious hosts trailed a couple of goals in the tie against the Portuguese club and Ademar Leon were on a mission to erase Braga's lead as soon as possible at the start of the match the Spanish club took a four-goal lead (9:5) in the 18th minute which already eclipsed the visitors' advantage from the first leg Braga were not willing to let Ademar Leon rush into a bigger lead and they went to the break with only three goals separating the sides both teams were patiently planning as well as executing their attacks with so much at stake and the tie's outcome was hanging in the balance Ademar Leon made a huge step forward by finally extending their lead to four goals (26:22) again The visitors tried to get back into the match until the final whistle but the Spanish club firmly stood their ground and celebrated a victory in the tie to progress to the EHF European League Men group phase Ademar Leon's playmaker Rodrigo Perez Arce displayed an excellent performance as he scored 11 goals playing a pivotal role in helping his team get the job done in the end FEATURE: Thüringer HC left back becomes MVP and top scorer of EHF Finals Women after netting 29 times in Graz SUMMARY: Thüringer HC are crowned in Graz as the new EHF European League Women champions following an intense final against Ikast Håndbold FLASH QUOTES: Comments from players and coaches after the EHF Finals Women 2025 final and third place match FINAL REVIEW: THC come from behind to beat Ikast 34:32 at the EHF Finals in Graz THIRD-PLACE MATCH REVIEW: The French side beat their opponents from Germany at the EHF Finals Women FINAL PREVIEW: Ikast Håndbold meet Thüringer HC in final; Blomberg and Dijon play for third place SUMMARY: Ikast Håndbold and Thüringer HC celebrated semi-final wins in Graz as they get ready for the final on Sunday SEMI-FINAL REVIEW: The German side beat Dijon 35:29 in the second semi-final of the EHF Finals Women FLASH QUOTES: Comments from players and coaches after the EHF Finals Women 2025 semi-finals SEMI-FINAL REVIEW: The 2023 champions are back in the final of the EHF Finals Women in Graz This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page says the authorities have prepared a pre-feasibility study for the project +ZEMC H2 of the City of Vinkovci 0 Josip Romić, the deputy mayor of Vinkovci, says the city has prepared a pre-feasibility study for the project called +ZEMC (Zero Emission Mobility Corridor) H2, whose estimated value is EUR 48 million, according to a report by Index.hr Vinkovci is well on its way to start discussions on all the benefits of hydrogen technology Hydrogen production would solve the problem of unrecycled waste are the solution for waste disposal and the use of hydrogen for the development of public transportation and for heating these benefits would allow the city to lower citizens’s bills He also stressed that the production of hydrogen from waste simultaneously solves the problem of accumulated non-recycled waste and provides cheap environmentally friendly fuel the use of hydrogen in the energy supply in the EU is at a very low level intends to seize the opportunity and become the leader of hydrogen use in Croatia Vinkovci expects to become part of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley The city plans to join the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley, a cross-border project aimed at creating a hydrogen market in Croatia The plan is to develop 17 pilot projects and produce more than 5,000 tons of renewable hydrogen a year hydrogen accounts for a 2% share of the EU’s energy consumption Hydrogen is produced 95% from fossil fuels hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources could cover 20-50% of traffic energy needs and 5-20% of industry consumption Be the first one to comment on this article 05 May 2025 - VDE Renewables found that SolarEdge’s advanced safety capabilities minimize photovoltaic system risks and effectively prevent fire hazards 02 May 2025 - The project is located in Constanța county recognized for its superior yields in green energy production 02 May 2025 - The Sunčana (Sunny) Vipava project envisages installing solar power plants with a combined capacity of 20 MW one of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in the world © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive Katarina Anđelković 2023 – The middle of June in Europe’s oldest city is all about the “Decennalia – Tenth Roman Days in Rimkovci” All visitors of the festival will have an opportunity to visit a Roman military camp As SiB writes all of Vinkovci is preparing for the special 10th edition of Roman Days from June 16 to 18 The Vinkovci Tourist Board is organising this year’s festival under the name “Decennalia – Tenth Roman Days in Rimkovci” Visitors can expect a traditionally rich program They will have the opportunity to learn about their way of life in and the influence of Romans on Vinkovci “Decennalia means a period of 10 years and as a festival it began to be celebrated in the Roman Empire in 27 BC It was when the first Roman emperor Augustus refused lifelong supreme power insisting that he would only accept power for 10 years After 10 years he handed power over to the people An impressive performance accompanied the act which we also plan to present,” said the director of the Tourist Board of the town of Vinkovci The entire city is involved in the organization of the Roman Days “The long and rich history of the oldest European city will come alive again in all its splendor through this unique event that will once again take us back to the time of the ancient Cibalae and our two Roman emperors Vinkovci will once again be the center of the ancient world Legionnaires will march through the city streets the sounds of gladiator fights and the hustle and bustle of a real Roman fair will resound all visitors will be able to enjoy the finest delicacies of the era We are preparing a Roman feast for the visitors with our caterers and students and professors from the Vinkovci Vocational High School in charge there will also be an interesting program for the little ones,” Mayor Ivan Bosančić said The members of the Prima Valentiniana association who will present the life of the Roman troops the actors Vjekoslav Janković and Petra Blašković sign the entire program this year “In order to portray life from the time of the Roman Empire as realistically as possible on the basis of which we have prepared interesting displays of customs Actors of the City Theater “Joza Ivakić” Vinkovci will help together with students of the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek The Croatian National Theater in Osijek also provided support They will show the daily life of the Romans as well as the life of the legionnaires The Vrijedne Ruke Association made the costumes for that event” The evening before the official start of the Roman Days is reserved for the Roman Night of Wine It will take place in the beautiful setting of Šokački Stan the bands Adastra and Soulfingers will be there to ensure good fun and website in this browser for the next time I comment Total Croatia News 2019 – An authentic UK telephone box in Europe’s oldest town Yorkshire puddings in a Vinkovci restaurant and Croatia’s first cider apple orchard the man behind a little bit of Yorkshire in eastern Croatia.  but my recent trips to eastern Croatia have made me realise that I will spend several lifetimes in this beautiful country and never get to know it completely the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe started with a very bizarre sight – an authentic British phone box.  Little did I know that the phone box was just the start of it I learned about a Vinkovci restaurant which used to serve Yorkshire puddings found myself searching for – and finding – a truly authentic English pub in a field in a village just outside Vinkovci which is also home to Croatia’s first cider apple orchard And the link to all of these weird and wonderfully random British things was due to one man from Leeds called Steve Gaunt Although I have yet to meet Steve in the flesh and I am grateful to him for finding the time for an email interview in which he explains why there is a British phone box in Vinkovci why he opened a pub in a field in the middle of nowhere One of my recent surprises visiting eastern Slavonia was finding a little slice of Yorkshire in Vinkovci It started with a British phone box in the middle of town and ended with me in a field in a nearby village standing outside an authentic-looking English pub called The White Boar And you are the chap responsible for it all Tell us briefly how you came to be a Yorkshireman in Vinkovci for almost 30 years I was the overseas operations manager for a UK travel company and had the responsibility for running all aspects of overseas operations and troubleshooting I was in Slovenia when it kicked off there I decided to go to Croatia in the offseason to see how I could help and ended up in the fledgling army with a bunch of other Brits worked a while to raise cash then came back here on Christmas Day 1992 and started to piece some kind of new life together I got Croatian citizenship in June 1993 and also became a photo reporter eventually becoming hugely successful; almost every day I had a front-page photo in one paper or another.  I was captured by Serbs in 1993 whilst on assignment and charged with spying I was only a month in there but it was the worst time of my life I started working for the museum on digs and such then married a young local girl and she had six children in seven years I keep fit building additions to my buildings and metal detecting My collection in Vinkovci Museum is valued in six figures I also build old fashioned HTML5  based websites for small organisations which gives me a little pocket money The rest of the time I spend shouting at Croatians that I am not responsible for Bleiburg Steve organises a metal detecting rally – here he is being interviewed about it.) One of these was CARE (Croatian Aid & Relief Expedition) based in South Wales This organisation along with others brought in tons of stuff in a most disorganised fashion After meetings with them we organised them to adopt a village (Cerić) and bring what they needed at the time of progress with resettling in their devastated village things like tools and materials in the beginning and other non-essential items at the end.  This worked well and after 4 years they thanked me and asked me what I wanted for myself I said a barrel of Tetley’s bitter or a phone box I got a call telling me the truck with the phone box was on its way I went to see the mayor and he jumped at the chance to have it As there had been a public telephone on the spot where mine now stands I only insisted that the light should work and that a phone was installed I recently found some gold paint and so touched up the phone box since your visit I also heard a rumour that you introduced Yorkshire puddings to the menu of a Vinkovci restaurant Yorkshire puddings were once served in a Vinkovci restaurant It was called Ruža ( sadly gone now) and they learned very quickly how to make the perfect Yorkshire pudding If only I could get them onto making pies in this country… People liked the puddings which really took me back to rural England Tell us about the idea and the realisation Getting anything built in Croatia is a challenge and I assume that an English pub might have involved some additional fun and games I know you had problems with paperwork in Dalmatia but I can actually transfer ownership of land or a house in Vinkovci in a single working day I just sold a house for one English friend to another English friend one day a local guy who was my sergeant in the war asked if I wanted to buy his land it was a bit of a lonely spot and I wan’t sure Just before we left I heard a nightingale sing from a plum tree at the end and that swung it.  He wanted 2400 euro and I offered to pay 100 a month for two years he reduced the price if I could pay the rest immediately and by luck I had some money then and paid up Then I started building a small wood-framed house at the end of the plot which is the little white house at the end of the field Now this plot was in an area that was an abandoned hamlet and all the plots but the one over the path from the pub were for sale Then I was approached by the widow who owned the house where the pub now stands and that came with two plots She wanted 3000 euro and I had the money borrowed and paid before an hour was up I knocked down the old house and put in a cellar then built the old house back where it was I had dabbled with brewing before and thought it would be a fine idea to have my own little pub for it (we have a flat in Vinkovci so didn’t need a place to live as such) I had also planted cider apple trees and hoped that they might thrive and let me make cider (again I got the electric company to put up 18 poles to run electric there and that doubled the value of the land for me and all my neighbours I finished the pub with the help of my children in March 2016 fellow metal detectorists had been visiting from the UK including Gordon Heritage of Discovery Channel fame Gordon wanted to move nearby so we got the cottage to the left of the White House and fixed it up fior him Two others came and took the house behind the pub which we rebuilt in 2016 and another mate took a house over the railway line where the little horses are You have a really great beer selection on offer Tell us about it and how hard it is to maintain stocks and get deliveries There can’t be many Yorkshire beers being shipped to eastern Croatia there is a decent local brewer who listens to me and he produces two good ales they don’t care much and will drink any Croatian beers I only put draught on when there is something important happening or the event we have on the 18th of November each year when foreign volunteers attend the event in Vukovar then party at my pub (The foreign volunteers who fought for Croatia in the video above) Do many people know about the pub and do you get passing tourist traffic Did I see cricket on the pub’s Facebook page Well I have the equipment and myself and another local English volunteer and invalid but we get the gear out and try every now and then until broken roof tiles and car windows puts us off I thought I would make Croatia’s first cider orchard so planted about 50 trees and set about the great and painful five-year experiment to see which (if any) English varieties would thrive I got a chap in the UK to send cuttings and I grafted them onto local varieties though the drought of the last three years has set them back some I got just 12 litres of juice from this year’s meagre crop I have customers for every drop I can make Gordon will buy brewing gear so if the cider doesn’t pan out then we will make beer (the thing with my English neighbours is For those wanting to come for a pint and meet a Yorkshire legend tell us where the pub is and how to find it The pub SHOULD be easy to find, I have put it on Google maps but they continually refuse to correct the errors in the street layout and naming. ‘Here we go’ maps have it perfect now. You need to take the path to the left of the railway line whereas Google sends you on the right.  And this is how I eventually found The White Boar.  Finding Steve’s pub was just one of many discoveries on my recent trip to Slavonia. Check out 9 other things I learned while visiting during Days of Croatian Tourism.  Patients at the General County Hospital Vinkovci have access to better medical care thanks to new equipment provided as part of a project funded by the ERDF The hospital serves 120 000 people living in Vukovar-Srijem county and people from neighbouring parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina With new diagnostic and other medical equipment and devices we have raised the work of medical staff to a high level and ensured top quality for patients in the form of rapid implementation of diagnostics performed surgical procedures and better accommodation A number of departments benefitted from the investment in new equipment and devices including ophthalmology and optometry; surgery; urology; gynaecology; ear nose and throat; and orthopaedics with traumatology the project is actively contributing to the delivery of better services and bringing local healthcare provision up to the standards of more developed healthcare institutions in Croatia A high-class ultrasound device and a mammography machine have been purchased and are being used in day surgeries to produce rapid diagnoses and improve surgical outcomes The project made it possible to set up and equip an operating room exclusively for minor surgeries that don’t require patients to stay overnight mounted with an electrosurgical generator and other smaller devices along with a control console which can display radiographic images This means the hospital can perform more surgeries Another operating room was set up in the department of ophthalmology and optometry operating microscope and a device for performing cataract surgery 679 cataract surgeries have been performed and the waiting list has been significantly reduced the hospital has installed two endoscopic systems – one in the abdominal operating theatre and the other in the theatre for orthopaedics and traumatology By purchasing new video gastro- and colonoscopes the hospital can ensure rapid diagnostics for surgery the hospital increased the number surgical procedures it carried out The increase could have been greater were it not for the Covid-19 outbreak which resulted in non-emergency surgeries being suspended for a time the goal is to reduce the number of patients being referred to acute hospital departments by at least 10 % by 2023 Other initiatives rolled out through the project include staff training on equality and discrimination issues Efforts have also been made to help people with disabilities access services more easily for example through the promotion of the Braille alphabet and provision of sign language Total investment for the project “Outfitting Daily Hospitals” is EUR 2 202 587 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 1 872 212 through the “Competitiveness and Cohesion” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment falls under the priority “Social inclusion” Ministarstvo regionalnoga razvoja i fondova Europske unije Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Croatia Workers digging up a street in the Slavonian city of Vinkovci have come across a rare find. Buried beneath Zvonarska ulica for 2,000 years, a stone sarcophagus they discovered dates back to the Roman era. Today a modest railway town, Vinkovci was made a municipium by Hadrian in the early years of the first millennium and two other emperors were born here. The northern necropolis of the surrounding Roman colony of Aurelia Cibalae stretched from Jurja Dalmatinac ulica to the train station. Since the late 1800s, some 300 Roman graves have been recorded in the vicinity.   The sarcophagus is the first found in Vinkovci in the last 25 years. Damage to the lid points to it having been robbed of its treasure long ago. The artefact will be examined and then placed on display in Vinkovci City Museum. facebooktwitterinstagramAbout us Paul Bradbury 2024 – Many foreign volunteers came to aid Croatia in its hour of need in the face of mindless Serbian aggression Complaining is a way of life in Croatia (as in other parts of the world and I have lost count of the number of times I have been sat at a cafe with a cold one and been subjected to rants at the table next to or behind me As much as I love living here for the last 20 years this tendency to complain and focus on the negatives is one thing I like least For all the goodness in this country to celebrate it is usually the negative aspects that make the headlines I see little reason to voice those feelings unless we are going to do something about it And with the culture of complaining over a coffee usually the extent of the action Which is why I really appreciate – and warm to – positive people who may well have lots to complain about in life but they prefer to focus on the positives.  One of my favourite places to hang out in this country is one of its most surreal hostelries – an authentic English pub quite literally in a field in the middle of nowhere in eastern Croatia about a 10-minute drive from the historic town of Vinkovci The White Boar is owned by a dour Yorkshireman called Steve Gaunt who has added plenty of colour to life in Vinkovci since arriving in 1991 as a volunteer to fight for Croatia in the Homeland War Steve’s impressive repopulation efforts in a land of emigration and population decline (6 kids with his lovely local life) are just the tip of the iceberg of his contribution to life in the east over the last 30 years In addition to adding Yorkshire puddings to a Vinkovci restaurant menu and being responsible for the installation of a (still-functioning) London red public telephone box in the historic centre Steve has made countless contributions to the cultural offerings of the local museum through his metal detecting finds But it is his beloved pub where Steve comes into his own and where  I have rarely seen anyone as contented in their surroundings as this guy He built the pub to have his own place to escape a place to chill with his mates and family he has slowly been mastering the art of cider production as one of his latest hobbies I first met him on Vukovar Remembrance Day on November the 18th a few years ago, as he was hosting a barbecue for all the foreign veterans who had travelled for the anniversary That was certainly one of the most unusual nights of my time in Croatia But it was on my last visit to The White Boar a few months ago that I realised just how contented this dour Yorkshireman was I was visiting with an English friend on business in Osijek who didn’t quite believe that The White Boar really existed.  with our choice of music on the jukebox (The Smiths) I remember two things the quite remarkable Steve Gaunt said that day that prompted this article Vinkovci (population about 30,000) gives me everything I need.” With so many others complaining that there is no life in the east it struck me that here was a man of modest needs appreciative of the things that others did not see “Did you hear that?” as a train passed by along the nearby track “That is the only sound I hear all day from a neighbour.” Life in your very own English pub in a field in the middle of nowhere And what tune did our dour Yorkshireman choose to highlight his contented status in life Heaven Knows I’m Mierable Now by The Smiths Which goes something like this when sung by a man from Leeds Croatia off the beaten path is a constant voyage of unique discovery There are lots of similar bubbles of contentedness such as the one lived in by Yorkshireman Steve Gaunt all over the country and discovering them one by one is yet more magical reason to live in Croatia And yes, The White Boar really does exist. You can follow it on Facebook And if you are curious about how a red London telephone box came to reside in central Vinkovci, read on… By 2018-03-28T06:00:00 CROATIA: Proposed EU co-financing for the electrification and upgrading of the route from Vinkovci to the River Danube port of Vukovar has been backed by the JASPERS technical assistance partnership of the European Commission the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development Already have an account? LOG IN You’ve reached your limit of content for the month Register for free now 2024 – Did you know that the oldest European town to have been continuously inhabited is in eastern Croatia Vinkovci really is a fascinating little place Vinkovci is the oldest European town which has been constantly inhabited One doesn’t have to dig very deep to find some antiquities of the past not great news if you are trying to build apartment blocks Although digging without permits is not permitted several people I spoke to when I visited Vinkovci finally had found pieces of pottery dating back thousands of years head instead to the nearby Vucedol museum close to nearby Vukovar where thousands of years of the culture of Vinkovci and surrounding areas is beautifully and educationally presented in one of Croatia’s most modern museums.  Vinkovci is rather a fascinating place in its own right Discoveries in Vucedol culture included a beer pot dating back 5,000 years – that is quite some beer-drinking tradition And Emperor Valens certainly played his part So much so in fact that his nickname of Sabaiarius translated as ‘Beer Belly.’ Between WWI and WWII there were no less than 14 different beers in Vinkovci and the latest addition to the Vinkovci beer story would surely have Emperor Valens’ seal of approval – a craft beer in his name brewed in the town during construction work on Hotel Slavonija in the centre of town and whose patterns depicted the oldest known calendar in Europe You can learn much more about the Orion calendar in the Vucedol museum which have been immortalised in the paving in the pedestrian zone in the centre of town You will not be in this part of Croatia long before you are treated to the wonders of its rich cuisine And in the finest culinary traditions of the region a successful attempt was made in 2009 to make the longest sausage in the world others have taken the challenge rather serious and some dedicated sausage makers in Romania in 2014 made a sausage which was an astonishing 62.7 km long There are only a handful of rivers in the world which can flow in both directions there is a very slight incline as the Bosut passes through the town (0.8%) and when the wind gets up The most famous event in the annual calendar is undoubtedly Vinkovacke Jeseni – Vinkovci Autumns – a magnificent display of folklore and traditional dress I knew that Vucedol culture had several world firsts but I didn’t know that they included the first metal casting in the world Just one of many things you can learn on a walking tour of the historic centre just one of many things you can pick up from the excellent tri-lingual signage (Croatian And in a town which gave birth to two Roman Emperors which takes part each year in late May/early June and is described by the national tourist board as follows: were born in Roman Cibalae (today’s Vinkovci) Did you know that people used to drink beer Come to Vinkovci and experience the „Roman Days“ manifestation This area of the country has a proud horse-riding tradition and the Lipizzaner horses in Djakovo are world-famous even attracting a visit from horse-lover Queen Elizabeth II back in 1972 There is a very nice horse festival each February in Vinkovci and surrounding area harking back to an era when Vinkovci was part of the Military Frontier and so in Vinkovci we can see the horse riders from our County passing through the old quarters of Vinkovci – Ervenica and Krnjaš Some citizens stand in waiting to greet the cavalcade and offer food and drinks to the participants who all get greeted in the City centre by the County Prefect and the Mayor symbolised by the famous Croatian smart bench which you can use to recharge your phone before continuing your selfie tour of 8,300 years of history Do you know where the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe is The scene of the famous murder on the Orient Express Senka Vlahovic took that fateful train on May 1 When one decides to take a trip on a nice spring day and it turns to be a winter day at 2°C with rain and wind in the latter half of the April I am not the type of the person who will go to the North Pole or the jungle or eat weird food or put my head in a crocodile’s mouth planning my visit to Vinkovci and discovering its stories also filled me up with adventurous emotions I would love to explore my own country first before heading to the jungle or flying to the Moon one morning on a winter day in April of this year I started my adventure by taking a train from Osijek to Vinkovci The reason I decided to go to Vinkovci by train was the Orient Express Agatha Christie and the fact that Vinkovci is the second biggest railway junction in Croatia I had not travel led by train in over 17 years and it was kind of exciting buying a ticket at the train station in Osijek The train interior was terribly old fashioned but that was the touch I kind of liked made me nostalgic for past times and it was really cosy and warm So I sat down and tried to imagine myself as one of the fancy passengers of one of the most famous trains in railway history This train started to operate in 1883 as the Express d’Orient from Paris to Vienna and changed its name to the Orient Express in 1891 It was also called „the King of Trains the Train of Kings“ because many famous people that were travelling in it Agatha Christie… The route of the Orient Express changed several times and thanks to the opening of the Simplon Tunnel in 1918 the route known as the Simplon Orient Express started to operate from Paris to Istanbul passing through Vinkovci in 1919 The Simplon Orient Express was connecting Western and Eastern Europe from 1919 until 1939 and again from 1945 until 1962 „Murder on the Orient Express“ a novel by Agatha Christie was first published in the United Kingdom on 1st January 1934 Assuming that all of the readers know the story I’ll just write that the most important part of the book Poirot wakes to the sound of a scream.“ Hercule Poirot was solving the murder in the train stuck in the snow somewhere between Vinkovci and another Slavonian town Maybe it would be also interesting to note that one of the most famous detectives ever started his journey in this novel from Aleppo in Syria RAILWAY EXIBITION ON RAILWAY STATION IN VINKOVCI This permanent exhibition has covered the railway system at the Vinkovci junction and broader area since 1878 and it is located in the former 2nd class waiting room of the Vinkovci railway station The exhibition was set up on the basis of a collection of 399 items which were collected and donated by members of the Association of HŽ Railway Pensioners Vinkovci Among many items I would like to point out several of them: track vehicles with a mechanical drive supervisory book of the Vinkovci station kept from 1918 to 1965 and interesting old photographs „The Vinkovci area is the oldest continuously inhabited area in Europe as confirmed by archeological finds dated less than 50 years apart reaching back through more than 8000 years of history.“ – Museum of Vinkovci Vinkovci is very well known as an important historical and archaeological site and I find it impossible to dedicate one paragraph only to the museum of a place where life has continued for such a long time And I can’t stop thinking what would some other country in Europe would do with this data Croatia has the oldest inhabited town in Europe I shall just mention Vinkovci’s key contributions to world heritage: the oldest mass production of metal objects the oldest known true bronze and the oldest European and Indo-European calendar BIRTH HOUSE OF IVAN KOZARAC AND LOVE STORY FROM KRNJAŠ Not so long ago I discovered the story behind one song usually played on the Slavonian instrument The poet also expresses his love towards Slavonia and its way of life at the beginning of the 20th century feed the watchdog only to get to her window He admits he caressed other girls over the years The lyrics were written by Slavonian poet Ivan Kozarac who loved a girl called Marija whom he couldn’t marry Ivan Kozarac wrote these lyrics 10 months before he died at the age of 25 stopped in time in front of his house by the Bosut River Find out more about Ivan Kozarac and his birth house … that Celts were the first to coin money here?… that the Romans were saying that the Bosut River flows in one direction before noon The Bosut flows so slowly that even the slightest wind will leave the impression that the river flows in the direction it blows brothers Valentinian and Valens were born in Vinkovci (Cibale)?… that Valens was called Sabaiarius (beer drinker or beer belly) cause he loved the beer so much?… that Vinkovci had 14 breweries between the two world wars?… that the archeologists discovered the Orion on March 21st 1978 at the site of the biggest current hotel in Vinkovci „Hotel Slavonija”?… that luxury 1600-year-old silverware was found in Vinkovci in 2012 This was a significant archaeological discovery not only in Croatia but also in the world That 36 kg heavy antique silver contained a total of 50 silver dishes of different plates neither could I enjoy walking by the Bosut and over main city square decorated with Orion ornaments… but I don’t mind It gives me a great reason to visit Vinkovci again maybe in September on Vinkovačke jeseni (Vinkovci’s Autumns) one of the greatest folklore events organized in these parts What do over 8000 years of history and Agatha Christie have in common And what should you do knowing this as a proud citizen of this country or proud European or just human being Want to learn more amazing things about a region of Croatia many Croats know little about? 25 things to know about Eastern Croatia Lauren Simmonds As Novac writes according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Vinkovci is the only city in all of Eastern Croatia that is among the ten cities in the Republic of Croatia in terms of the number of employees per thousand inhabitants Thanks to the support of the state and the City of Vinkovci the number of entrepreneurs in Vinkovci is growing day by day and there are no more places in the entrepreneurial zones – that’s why new ones are being built they make wooden products related to the serving of food for the hospitality and catering industry The more unusual boards and trays are designed by Borna who plans to work with his father after completing his high school education Vice Bozic successfully runs a digital marketing agency and is looking for new employees He currently has three employees in his agency and their goal is to expand his business and work for companies from all over the world from Vinkovci The Vinkovci employment rate is encouraging and there are eighteen enterprises looking for more labour in the now full business incubators They are even willing to co-finance the training of the workforce provided they commit to staying and working for them ”We have a historically large number of employees and this is perhaps a more important fact at this time we felt almost nothing in terms of the number of employees the gross salary grew by over 1000 kuna and there have been over 1000 new employees,” stated the mayor of Vinkovci of the impressive Vinkovci employment rate Vinkovci also provides subsidies to entrepreneurs and their companies and they then provide higher salaries to their workers Both entrepreneurial zones have been filled up and they’re now planning to bring foreign investors into the new one they’re building and thus create even more new jobs For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section With many young people emigrating from Croatia what keeps those who decided to stay (at least for now) The emigration of young people from Croatia in search of better business opportunities and living standards Each of us young people in Croatia knows at least a few people from their environment who said that enough was enough and decided to seek happiness somewhere abroad According to official Eurostat data, from 2015 to 2019, Croatia’s population decreased by 4.26 inhabitants per 1,000 citizens only thanks to emigration. Therefore, the Croatian emigration rate is the second-worst in the European Union (after Lithuania) These data indicate that economic prosperity influences population decisions to emigrate due to the exodus of the young and working population there is an additional reduction in GDP per capita that closes the cycle of poverty and decline in Croatia there are many who are aware of the poor position of young people in Croatia but still do not want to give up and decide to stay in Croatia We’re wondering what do those young people think about this whole situation and what are their reasons for staying in Croatia We continue our series with Emma from Vinkovci in eastern Croatia I am currently working as a key costumer and as a costume standby on a project for a television series What is it like being a student/recent graduate in Croatia during this coronavirus time For faculties that operate on a project basis We had very few opportunities to connect and meet new collaborators and the main thing with this job is to be known for who you are and projects are coming to be a bit unexpectedly What are your experiences searching for a job in your profession in Croatia I haven’t been actively searching for the last year because of Covid-19 and theatres aren’t permitted to make new productions yet so I am sure not many theatres need a costume assistant or wardrobe assistant in the theatre people from past projects contact you about a new project and want to include you but it wouldn’t have happened if I have been passive in the past about my work What do you think of the Croatian Government’s efforts to provide opportunities for graduates I think they are doing a fine job regarding engineering and medical students but I don’t think there is much they can do for costume design students Many young people your age decide to emigrate from Croatia to find a better job opportunity and/or life standard and some jobs are not as wanted here as they are somewhere else One of the main reasons for choosing costume design is to go out There is a lot of things you can learn out there what would encourage young people to stay in Croatia I have noticed lately that primarily students attached to their family or the ones who are going to inherit a house or piece of land are optimistic about staying here I have also noticed that lots of people who leave Croatia come back for its relaxed everyday approach and way of working and living and of course the great weather that we have here the key to staying is mainly attachment and home I guess the thing that would encourage young people to stay are great job offers straight after university and a career that provides lots of traveling because it wouldn’t make you wish to leave Croatia Have you ever considered moving out of Croatia and why I feel that Croatia is really small for me and that if I could reach more audience I don’t have many attachments here in Croatia what is your impression of the education system in Croatia What do you think is good about it and what could be better What I like about the Croatian education system is that we can go to high schools that educate us about a particular vocation and craft can you say that everything is possible in Croatia if you work hard just some jobs here don’t have the audience for it but sometimes you can reach your audience online If you could change only one thing in Croatia The thing I really don’t like in Croatia is the old communist system stemming out in different ways and functions people were being checked if they stayed at their homes by the police a few times in 2 days for some people Even people who lived during Tito’s time still stand by his politics The country’s beauty and the lifestyle Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of Croatia and will it be a better or worse place for your children I think Croatia is one of the best countries to raise your children Are you a student or recent graduate who would like to contribute your voice and experiences to this series? If yes, please contact donatella@total-croatia-news.com with the subject “Graduate.” To read more from the Croatian Graduate Perspective series, follow TCN’s dedicated page The Slavonian city of Vinkovci, a railway hub famously mentioned in Agatha Christie’s train-based thriller Murder on the Orient Express, has pioneering plans for its own public transport system. The city is looking to be at the forefront of Croatia’s use of hydrogen generated from unrecycled waste, an EU initiative being introduced across the region by Brussels. The green light has been given to the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley, involving three interlinked countries, running from north-eastern Italy, through Slovenia to Croatia. Over the next six years, Vinkovci will be one of 17 pilot projects funded by some €25 million in grants. The city aims to use hydrogen energy for heating and public transport. Currently, hydrogen accounts for only two per cent of all energy consumption across the EU. It is one of the most surreal things I have seen in my time in Croatia slap bang in the middle of the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe (8,300 years) in eastern Croatia as romantic Vinkovci celebrates Valentine’s Day in quite some style But if you think that a working red telephone box in a town in eastern Croatia is a little unusual wait for the explanation of its journey from the UK to its final resting spot in romantic Vinkovci.  a dour Yorkshireman called Steve arrived in Croatia to fight for the country as a volunteer He was wounded in the war and ended up staying in Vinkovci marrying a lovely local lady with whom he had 6 children.  Steve did a lot of work with UK NGOs who were bringing assistance to Croatia they asked what they could send him from the UK to thank him for his considerable help A phone call from the Vinkovci authorities A red London telephone box had been delivered He may be a tight Yorkshireman when it comes to money but Steve is very generous when it comes to telephone boxes on condition it was kept as a working telephone.  and you can buy cards at a nearby kiosk.  And if you thought this might be the strangest part of the story, read on. For Steve will probably be spending this romantic day in his favourite space in the world, truly exceptional – How I Came to Open an English Pub in a Field in Eastern Croatia Happy Valentine’s Day from Vinkovci. To learn more about this fascinating historic town, read Vinkovci: 10 Things to Know about Europe’s Oldest Town 2023 – Everyone knows about Agatha Christie’s famous novel “Murder on the Orient Express.” But did you know that the train which was the scene of the murder was passing right through Vinkovci That train really used to pass there and travel on to exotic places we’re presenting the Vinkovci Orient Express race And the second race of the Vinkovci trilogy, which began with the Orion race, was named after the Orient Express, writes Turističke Priče Races through the history of the oldest city in Europe The route of the Orient Express race will explore the streets of Vinkovci on Saturday Pick-up of the start packages is on the day of the race from 4 p.m and prizes for the first three places in the men’s and women’s competition and the announcement of the winners and the awarding of prizes in both categories for the first three places is scheduled for 6.30 p.m. followed by a concert and a DJ performance The Vinkovci race trilogy will end with the Valens Victorius Valens Victorius is a 4.5-kilometer-long obstacle race Its name was inspired by the rich Roman history of Vinkovci half-adrenaline race that will decide the overall winner of the Vinkovci trilogy This unique and magnificent race in the heart of Slavonia in memory of the tragically killed Croatian veteran Nedjeljko Klarić the times of all three races will be added up for the total time for each competitor and the fastest and most agile will be crowned The announcement of the overall winners will take place after the completion of the Valens Victorius race on June 18 The organizer is the Half Marathon Association, in cooperation with the FCT Citizens’ Sports Association. All info about the trilogy and the upcoming Orient Express race can be found here awaits you with a handful of stories about famous characters who created history and lots of sports entertainment And don’t worry – everyone will leave this Orient Express alive and with precious memories of the oldest city in Europe For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Travel section mission and calling is to defend the Croatian homeland You took an oath to the Croatian constitution and the Croatian homeland” the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović told members of the Croatian Army’s Armoured Mechanized Brigade celebrating the 16th anniversary of its formation He added that “Croatia does not live in isolation because it is a member of international associations your mission and your calling is to defend the Croatian homeland a clear perception and awareness of what it is and is not what our constitution says and the democratically elected order At the ceremony in the barracks of the 5th “Slavonski sokolovi” Guards Brigade in Vinkovci President Milanović underscored that we must remember and never forget the Croatian defenders who defended and liberated Croatia “You stand on the shoulders of your predecessors people who defended and liberated Croatia in circumstances of an embargo a fog that dissipated revealing our true heroes Those in your unit that are still active are rare” In conclusion he wished members of the Croatian Army’s Armoured Mechanized Brigade to work on themselves as people to continue learning and be physically fit to defend your lives so as to defend the homeland And this task is the hardest and the job you have chosen is probably the hardest job that exists I wish you rich meaningful years full of experience The commander of the Croatian Army’s Armoured Mechanized Brigade Colonel Valentin Skroza addressed the gathering and said that the brigade is preserving and nurturing the tradition of the Homeland War’s legendary guards units – “Kuna” “The sacrifice made by the Croatian defenders is woven into this tradition and is the foundation on which we are building a strong and modern unit of the Croatian Army” and reminded that 571 members of those brigades laid down their lives in the Homeland War He added that the brigade from its beginning was involved in training and preparing forces to participate in international military operations and peace support operations “Through international activities we are constantly getting stronger and adjusting to the demands of the contemporary global environment and are strengthening our readiness to defend the Republic of Croatia” and underlined that their main purpose is well trained individuals soldiers as the foundation of a ready and trained unit He mentioned a further important mission of the brigade – assistance to civilian institutions during natural disasters to which the brigade readily provided assistance and achieved cooperation with civilian institutions As one of the major tasks in the near future for the brigade is the reception and integration of the Bradley fighting vehicle Members of the First armoured mechanized brigade “Sokolovi” are being educated and trained to use it Only with good preparations can we be ready to respond to new challenges thereby actively contributing to fulfil NATO capability goals we will further readily and responsibly carry out our tasks with maximum engagement We must never forget that we are members of the Croatian Army protectors of the Croatian people and our homeland who have the greatest expectations from us in difficult times We must and will always readily fulfil these expectations” the Commander of the Croatian Army’s Armoured Mechanized Brigade stated In the continuation of the ceremony celebrating the 16th anniversary of the formation of the Croatian Army’s Guards Armoured Mechanized Brigade President Milanović laid a wreath and lit a candle at the monument to the 5th Guards Brigade’s fallen members in the Homeland War Also attending the wreath-laying and candle-lighting ceremony alongside President Milanović were the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj the Commander of the Croatian Army Lieutenant General Boris Šerić the Head of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff Brigadier General Mijo Validžić the Commander of the Guards Mechanized Brigade Brigadier General Dražen Ressler the Commander of the Training and Doctrine Command Brigadier General Željko Ljubas the Commander of the Croatian Army’s Armoured Mechanized Brigade Colonel Valentin Skroza the First NCO of the Croatian Armed Forces Sergeant Major Dražen Klanjec the First NCO of the Croatian Army Sergeant Major Dalibor Dumbović and the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković the Head of the Military Office of the Office of the President of the Republic Rear Admiral Predrag Stipanović and the Aide-de-Camp to the President of the Republic Colonel Vlado Čulina PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas Medievalists.net A demonstration of metal detecting equipment in Croatia has led to the uncovering of hoards of coins and artefacts that date back to the ancient and medieval periods as part of the demonstration of Minelab’s CTX 3030 treasure detector to Vinkovci Municipal Museum archaeologists Minelab prospectors Richard Lincoln and Gordon Heritage discovered the multiple hoards around three archaeological sites in the eastern part of the country In total they uncovered 106 bronze and silver Celtic coins from 100 B.C. a silver Roman denarius of Antoninus Pius minted around 211 B.C. 39 coins from the 13th and 14th century minted during the rule of Holy Roman Emperor King Sigismund and Queen Maria of Luxemburg as well as a unique silver Celtic double ended toggle fastener a Neolithic stone hammer and a Roman fibulae a popular brooch crafted between the 1st and 4th century A.D “We have used metal detectors before whilst conducting field surveys but the Minelab CTX 3030 has helped us take our excavations even further,” said Hrvoje Vulic head archaeologist of Vinkovci Municipal Museum far more sites will be found and protected based on prospecting efforts made with the CTX 3030 a machine I’d strongly recommend to every archaeologist interested in doing field survey.” “We are proud that our products were key tools in discovering these ancient Croatian hoards as well as a means in protecting archeological sites for further exploration,” said Gary Schafer General Manager of Worldwide Consumer Markets and of America’s Operations for Minelab Electronics “By learning the expansive capabilities of our CTX 3030 model Vinkovci Municipal Museum archaeologists will be able to continue the expedition to uncover even more treasure.” Minelab’s CTX 3030 treasure detector is all-terrain and waterproof in up to 10 ft Equipped with a full color LCD screen and advanced Target Tracediscrimination the CTX 3030 GPS allows treasure hunters to navigate to specific locations and to record exact locations of their discoveries With five preset search modes and many automatic functions the model is intuitive for beginner treasure hunters while providing advanced features for experienced detectorists To learn more about Minelab or the CTX 3030, visit minelab.com We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast and remove the advertising on our platforms This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce Member Login Daniela Rogulj the Vinkovci Autumn event will proudly preserve and nurture the customs and cultural heritage of Croatia Goran Rihelj of HRTurizam writes that from September 13 to 22 Vinkovci Autumn will offer the best display of Slavonian customs in an effort to preserve them – and this renowned and well-known folklore economic and cultural event will attract around 100,000 visitors In addition to the vibrant traditional and cultural program that is the foundation of the event there is also an enticing gastronomy and entertainment program: from the best Slavonian specialties to souvenirs conferences and various concerts every day young folklore groups also have their place in cultural and artistic societies they nurture and preserve the tradition and heritage of their towns.  In order to show what they learned and rehearsed during the year and as worthy heirs to the older guardians of traditional heritage children’s folklore groups from all counties of Croatia where two days are dedicated only to them.  as this two-day event of children’s folklore groups is called featuring the most festive of folk costumes and customs Rihelj adds that the Children’s Vinkovci Autumn guarantees the survival of this event as a whole the Children’s Vinkovci Autumn will feature 3,000 small participants with over 60 children’s folklore groups Vinkovci Autumn offers one of the biggest stages of original traditional Croatian folklore The theme of this year’s event is “Three dear words” The most spectacular event will take place on the last day when 75 KUDs and folklore groups from the country and the diaspora 30 horse-drawn carriages and about 50 riders will parade the streets of the city in a ceremonial march.  Find out more about Vinkovci Autumn here To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page 2023 – More surprises from eastern Croatia – an excellent Gastro Show by the national football team’s chef at the delightful Sokacki Stan Every visit brings a new surprise or delight and I know that there is still so much to discover I had been to Vinkovci several times, and I thought I had discovered all there was to discover (oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe, birthplace to two Roman Emperors, home to the oldest Indo-European calendar, a beer-making tradition dating back 5,000 years and much more, covered in Vinkovci: 10 Things to Know about Europe’s Oldest Town) And then they took me for a drive into the forest… A beautiful traditional Slavonian location Sokacki stan from the 19th century on the outskirts of Vinkovci has been transformed into a place where the whole family can enjoy relaxation in nature and gastronomic specialties – Sokacki stan d.o.o tourist tours and activities throughout the year aimed at preserving the traditional heritage and preparing traditional dishes of the Vukovar-Srijem County All these events have a diverse content and offer and are prepared for each calendar year where everyone interested can participate in the activities and learn or remember traditional cuisine and customs evokes memories of Slavonian historical heritage and gives a feeling of home We were there as part of the project PannEx Reload within the Interreg IPA cross-border cooperation program Croatia – Serbia whose final day including a Gastro Show on the final day The PannEx Reload project is a continuation of the Pannonia Gourmet project the Gourmet Centre was established and the Eat Pannonia partnership was established bringing together various producers of local products and service providers a passionate promoter of Vinkovci and Slavonia gave a lecture at the first-day conference on the importance of short supply chains in tourism cafes… we have to sell our domestic products you can also offer premium foreign drinks that you must have due to standards and globalization you have to offer the guest the domestic craft beer Valens and explain to the guest why that beer is specific emphasised Rihelj and added that it is necessary to connect chains in tourism primarily through agriculture clusters are needed that have proven to be successful as a market model all over the world who is also the chef for the Croatian national football team, spoke about the importance of interpreting Slavonian gastronomy in a modern and traditional way and he began his presentation by asking the audience: What is Slavonian cuisine so they had a good breakfast and went to work It is precisely this part that we need to develop We have a handful of groceries in Slavonia and Baranja and the entire interior of Croatia We have come to the conclusion that we must use what is offered to us We need to use indigenous foods and preserve those flavors with modern techniques Food is a moment that certainly keeps you going I think we have to market all that is autochthonous and in time everything will come into its own. which was hosted by my good friend Ribafish and gave an excellent overview of the quality products on offer in the Vinkovci region: Vigus with its cakes Vinkovci oil factory with Sunce Vinkovaca oil Abelo distillery with its premium alcoholic beverages then Valentinijan with its Valens and Vinkovački beer and Podrum Marija from Ilok with wines served with each course of food NOW I understand why Croatia is so good at football I am sure if Tomica had been cooking for England in July 2018 we would have won a certain World Cup semi-final… Smoked duck breast served with vinous beets pears in white wine and couscous vinaigrette according to the choice of Podruma Marija from Ilok It followed main course – sous vide black pork loin caramel carrot with pecans and spicy potato cake carob/amber cake with coffee cream and hibiscus gel poured with late harvest Grasevina from Podrum Marija the magical tamburasi playing – another fabulous evening in eastern Croatia which could provide a masterclass in how to treat guests 2019 – Did you know that the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe is in eastern Croatia and Vinkovci really is a fascinating little place I will confess that I had lived in Croatia for a full 13 years before I had even heard of Vinkovci And if it wasn’t for the energy of Goran Rihelj of the HR Turizam portal a Vinkovci resident and passionate promoter of eastern Croatia I must admit that I was a little intrigued when Goran kept signing off on his emails with the phrase – Greetings from the Oldest Town in Europe.    I was curious and decided to look into things a little more And it turned out that young Goran was right – Vinkovci WAS the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe One doesn’t have to dig very deep to find some antiquities of the past several people I spoke to when I visited Vinkovci finally had found pieces of pottery dating back thousands of years.  where thousands of years of the culture of Vinkovci and surrounding areas is beautifully and educationally presented in one of Croatia’s most modern museums.  in addition to being Europe’s oldest town Here are ten things which define it.  but the town is the birthplace of not one but two Roman Emperors one of whom continues to shape the tourism story of Vinkovci today Both Valentinian and Valens were born in Vinkovci and went on to rule the Roman Empire but the name of Valens lives on due to his favourite refreshment – beer.  Discoveries in Vucedol culture included a beer pot dating back 5,000 years – that is quite some beer-drinking tradition So much so in fact that his nickname of Sabaiarius translated as ‘Beer Belly.’ Between WWI and WWII and the latest addition to the Vinkovci beer story would surely have Emperor Valens’ seal of approval – a craft beer in his name brewed in the town.  which have been immortalised in the paving in the pedestrian zone in the centre of town.   You will not be in Slavonia long before you are treated to the wonders of Slavonian cuisine and some dedicated sausage makers in Romania in 2014 made a sausage which was an astonishing 62.7 km long.   Folkore and autumn – Croatia’s biggest celebration The most famous event in the annual calendar is undoubtedly Vinkovacke Jeseni – Vinkovci Autumns – a magnificent display of folklore and traditional dress The aftermovie from this year’s event has just come out – watch it below but I didn’t know that they included the first metal casting in the world Roman Days – a festival fit for an emperor were born in Roman Cibalae (today’s Vinkovci) A celebration of horses – Pokladno Jahanje Slavonia has a proud horse-riding tradition harking back to an era when Vinkovci was part of the Military Frontier. This tradition has been renewed passing through the old quarters of Vinkovci – Ervenica and Krnjaš which you can use to recharge your phone before continuing your selfie tour of 8,300 years of history.  To learn more about eastern Croatia, here are 25 things to know.  2020 – It is 25 years since Vinkovci got a rather unusual gift from the UK – a traditional British telephone box which continues to receive love and attention.  I am not sure what surprised me more – finding out that the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe was in Croatia – or finding out that there was a traditional British telephone box which functioned right in the middle of the historic centre.  As is often the case when you see something that makes no sense such as a British telephone box in the middle of eastern Croatia the explanation can be attributed to a Yorkshireman.  It took me some time to get the full story of how the telephone box came to be in Vinkovci, and rather than repeat it, you can find the full account in this feature story on how and why there is an English pub in a field in the middle of nowhere a few kilometres from Vinkovci – How I Came to Open an English Pub in a Field in Eastern Croatia.  Since coming to Croatia to volunteer in the Homeland War Steve Gaunt has made an immense contribution to life in Vinkovci and he is clearly a man who takes pride in his work and believes in keeping things tidy A few weeks ago he posted on Facebook that he had finally found some gold leaf paint and so was able to touch up the telephone box which had been looking a little jaded.  with the results for all to see in the video above A quaint – and unusual – part of Vinkovci’s rich history, and nice to see it being preserved. Steve is a fascinating guy for a Yorkshireman, and if you do find yourself in that part of the world, a pint at The White Boar is a worthwhile eastern Croatian experience you had perhaps not bargained for. Learn more about The White Boar here To learn more about the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe, here are 10 things to know about Vinkovci.  Yesterday, the Organizing Committee of Vinkovci Autumns officially presented the program of this year’s event, reports HrTurizam Unlike last year’s which were organized for the first time in special circumstances the 56th edition takes on a look that everyone is already used to It all starts on September 10th with Folklore Evenings that will last until September 15th 46 societies from Vukovar-Srijem County have registered while three societies will host the State Folklore Festival on September 18th and 19th The first weekend is reserved for the youngest guardians of traditional culture and the Inter-County Festival of Children’s Folklore Groups 12 counties and the City of Zagreb will participate and in the Children’s Parade on Sunday we will be able to see a total of 47 groups Slavonski sokak opens its doors on the first day you will find a rich offer of domestic and indigenous products of 51 exhibitors Six winemakers this year will be at the Wine Alley where you will be able to from Monday while the next day the main stars will be members of the Folklore Ensemble Lisinski who are celebrating 70 years of existence The highlight of the event begins with the grand opening on Friday Saturday is reserved for the National Folklore Festival and on Sunday we traditionally go to the festive Parade in the city center The parade of the 56th Vinkovci Autumns will be enriched by 42 local folklore societies and 28 invited societies “Thank you to everyone who contributes to Vinkovci Autumns being the biggest event in Croatia and beyond I hope that we will all adhere to epidemiological measures and try not to endanger anyone I think we’ve learned to live with that already but everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy the rich content for all ages” said the President of the Organizing Committee He stressed that there will be no tents this year and everything will take place in the open more precisely on the stage in the city center For more information, visit the Vinkovci Autumns official website, or their official Facebook page For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section