Crikvenica

Crikvenica is a town in Croatia, located on the Adriatic in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

Names
The names of the town in various languages include:
 * Ad Turres
 * Cirquenizza
 * Cirkvenica, Cirkvenicza, Czirkvenicza, Czirkwenicza
 * Cirknenz

Geography
Crikvenica is located southeast of Rijeka and is the largest settlement on the coast of the Vinodol coastal area.

Towns near Crikvenica include Kraljevica, Selce and Novi Vinodolski.

Over the last twenty years, urban expansion of Crikvenica itself and of the nearby town of Selce has resulted in the two merging into a mini-conglomerate.

Population
In the 2011 census, Crikvenica had a total municipal population of 11,122, in the following settlements:
 * Crikvenica, population 6,860
 * Dramalj, population 1,485
 * Jadranovo, population 1,224
 * Selce, population 1,553

History
Crikvenica was developed on the site of a Roman era settlement and military base called Ad Turres. Old Crikvenica was originally an offshoot of the village of Kotor, which is located on a nearby hill and shares its name with that of the village.

The name of the town derives from the word for 'church' (Croatian: crkva, in dialect crikva), referring to the monastery church of the Pauline Fathers, which was built by Nikola IV Frankopan nearby in 1412. Nikola IV. Frankopan issued a grant in Modruš, which is also the oldest written document in which the name Crikvenica is mentioned. Beside the church and the monastery at the mouth of the Dubračina, the nearby port of Grižane grew up. In 1760 the local worthy moved from Bribir to Crikvenica and thus it became the centre of the whole Vinodol coast. A great fire of 1776, in which nearly entire Kotor was burnt down, accelerated the migration from the hills towards the coastal areas.

In the 19th century Crikvenica began to attract many tourists, which brought about a turning point in its history. In 1877 a harbour was built in Crikvenica, in 1888 a bathing beach and as early as 1891 the first hotel had opened. In 1895 the Hotel Therapia was opened with 120 beds and a Hydrotherapy Institute. In 1902 the Hotel Crikvenica was built, in 1903 the Bellevue and in 1905 the Miramare. In 1906 Crikvenica became officially a health resort and due to its favourable climate, in the space of just 16 years Crikvenica became the most important resort on the riviera. Today, together with Selce, it is one of the most attractive parts of the Kvarner coast, as well as of the North Adriatic coast of Croatia in general.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Crikvenica was a district capital in the Modruš-Rijeka County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

Archaeology
A Roman ceramic workshop was discovered at Crikvenica, in an archaeological site called Igralište. The workshop operated from the latter part of the 1st century BC until the conclusion of the 2nd century AD, producing various ceramic items such as construction materials, amphorae, and pottery.

Sport
NK Crikvenica is an association football team that play in the Third Football League, at the Gradski stadion, which is located near the centre of Crikvenica. The European route E65 (Jadranska magistrala) dominates the view to the south. The stadium once had a motorcycle speedway track around the pitch and hosted significant competitions such as a qualifying round of the 1970 Speedway World Team Cup and the Yugoslavian National championship.

Notable people

 * Josif Pančić (1814–1888), botanist
 * Ljerko Spiller (1908–2008), Croatian and Argentine violinist
 * The family of Argentine Cardinal Estanislao Esteban Karlic (born 1926) came from in the village of Karlići near Grižane, a small village approximately 5 km outside Crikvenica