Starigrad, Zadar County

Starigrad is a municipality in the Zadar County in Croatia.

Starigrad
Starigrad Harbour
Starigrad location of Starigrad in Croatia
Coordinates: 44°17′43″N 15°26′17″E
Country	Croatia
County	Zadar
Area [1]
• Total	168.7 km2 (65.1 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	1,697
• Density	10/km2 (26/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Website	opcina-starigrad.hr

Name

Its Italian name is Ortopula.^[3]: 229

History

St. Peter Chapel

The Roman settlement of Argyruntum was on a 3.4-acre (14,000 m²), now silted, island in the area east of the port. Emperor Tiberius erected protective walls and towers. Findings from about four hundred tombs are an evidence of great prosperity and trade relations in the Mediterranean. The oldest relic in the vicinity of Starigrad is the St. George Chapel in Rovanjska and St. Peter's Chapel in Starigrad from the ninth or tenth century.^[4] Mediaeval traces are the castles "Večka kula" (old names were: Vega, Vegium (not to be confused with Vegium (Karlobag).) and Wezuliae), which was the mediaeval Harbormasters' office, on a peninsula east of Starigrad and the "Paklarić" on the prehistoric ruins of the entrance to the Velika Paklenica.

Population

In 2021, the municipality had 1,697 residents in the following 3 settlements:^[2]

• Seline, population 414
• Starigrad, population 1051
• Tribanj, population 232

Municipality of Starigrad: Population trends 1857–2021

v

population	1549	1758	2030	2413	2809	3165	3475	3358	2603	2528	2405	2361	2107	2097	1893	1876	1697
	1857	1869	1880	1890	1900	1910	1921	1931	1948	1953	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011	2021

Sources:Croatian Bureau of Statistics publications

Village of Starigrad: Population trends 1857–2021

v

population	511	550	640	777	912	1091	1157	1300	991	1092	1109	1163	1135	1159	1100	1140	1051
	1857	1869	1880	1890	1900	1910	1921	1931	1948	1953	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011	2021

Sources:Croatian Bureau of Statistics publications

According to the 2011 census, 96% of the population were Croats.^[5]

Climate

For the period 1992–2019, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was 42.7 °C (108.9 °F), on 10 August 2017.^[6] The coldest temperature was −9.8 °C (14.4 °F), on 27 December 1996.^[7]

Sports

The local chapter of the HPS is HPD "Paklenica", which had 14 members in 1936 under the don Ante Adžija presidency. That year, a path from Anića Kuk to the entrance of Manita Peć was planned, along with the construction of a water pipeline to Starigrad.^[8] Membership rose to 20 in 1937,^[9]: 250 staying the same in 1938, the year the subterranean path in Manita Peć and the path to the cave were completed.^{[10]: 224, 250}

The HPD "Gromovača" in Starigrad was liquidated on 16 November 1935.^{[11]: 214, 215}