Đakovo

Sister cities

• Sinj

History

In Roman antiquity the settlement Certissia stood on the same spot until it disappeared during the Migration Period. The settlement's first mention in historical documents dates from 1239 when Béla IV of Hungary granted it to the Diocese of Bosnia (), and the bishop moved his seat here in 1246. The predecessor to the newer St. Peter's Cathedral was built in 1355. In 1374 the settlement is documented under the name Dyacou. Croatian rebels in 1386 on 25 July captured Queen Mary of Hungary and her mother Elizabeth near the settlement. The Ottoman rule over Đakovo started following the Battle of Gorjani in 1537 and lasted for nearly 150 years. It was a kaza administrative center in Sanjak of Pojega and was known as "Yakova" during this period. In 1805 a Lipizzan horse herd was evacuated to Đakovo when Napoleon invaded Austria & Hungary and a part of the herd remained permanently there. In a 1910 census the settlement's total population of 6304 was made of 4894 Croatians, 890 Germans, 249 Hungarians and 164 Serbians. In the late 19th and early 20th century the settlement was a district capital in the Virovitica County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. From 1 December 1941 until 7 July 1942 the Ustaše established and operated the Đakovo internment camp, mostly for Jewish, Roma and Serb women and children.

Geography

Đakovo is located to the southwest of Osijek and southeast of Našice; elevation 111 m. It is located near the A5 motorway, at the intersection of the D7 state road to Osijek, the arterial roads D38 to Požega, D46 to Vinkovci and the connecting road D515 to Našice.