Knin

History

The area consisting of today's Knin, or more specifically, the Spas hill, has been inhabited since the Stone Age. In the vicinity of today's Knin was once a town called Burnum, which served as a Roman military camp in the 1st century BC. The original settlement grew atop the Spas hill in the earliest history and which later formed the castle of Knin. The first church, a monastery dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, was built during the time of Trpimir I in the 9th century in Kapitul (south-east from Knin Castle, where the later bishopric was located). It was later expanded or rebuilt by a certain Duke of Croatia, probably Svetoslav, during the reign of king Stephen Držislav of Croatia in the 10th century. Knin is first mentioned in the 10th-century work De Administrando Imperio as the centre of the Knin county (županija), and as one of the populated towns in Croatia. Around 1040, at the behest of the Croatian kings, a seat of the royal bishop was established in the nearby royal village of Biskupija (Kosovo), in the church of Saint Mary. The first "bishop of the Croats" is named Marko Giudice, and he and his successors were attached to the royal court as preachers and king's "special bishops" until 1102. Knin became a more permanent royal residence of king Demetrius Zvonimir around 1080. Because of this, it has led to Knin being known as the "City of Croatian Kings" or "Zvonimir's City" (Zvonimirov grad) in recent times. In the following decade, during the succession crisis, the city was the permanent residence of a local lord Petar Snačić, who contested the crown of Croatia until his defeat by king Coloman of Hungary in 1096. At that point, it came into possession of the Hungarian Arpad dynasty, and since then, it ceased to be a permanent royal residence but remained as…

Geography

Knin is located in the northern Dalmatian region of Croatia, 56 kilometres east of the coastal town of Šibenik, at . The original Roman settlement developed on the foothills of the Dinaric Alps. It was on these foothills that the Knin Fortress was built. The source of the Krka river begins on the outskirts of the town.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  87
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  73
• Eastern Stone Grasshopper

  Prionotropis hystrix (Germar, 1817) · Insecta
  72
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  67
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  66
• Egyptian Grasshopper

  Anacridium aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1764) · Insecta
  63
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  61
• Eurasian Blackcap

  Sylvia atricapilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  55

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2026-05-25
  13 km NNW of Hrvace, Croatia
• M 3.7 — 2026-03-04
  1 km E of Drniš, Croatia
• M 4.3 — 2026-02-17
  6 km NNW of Zabrišće, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• M 4.6 — 2025-02-11
  5 km NE of Starigrad, Croatia
• M 3.8 — 2023-12-27
  5 km N of Grohote, Croatia
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-27
  3 km SSE of Okrug Gornji, Croatia