Topusko

History

The first traces of humans in the Topusko area were found around 2,500 B.C. Numerous idols, fragments of ceramic dishes were found. Through the millennia, the Illyrians, the Celts, and most of all, the Romans testified to their existence and their fascination with this area of impulsive vivacity, and they made a statio, called Ad Fines. The excavation of pre-historical artifacts shows that Topusko and its surroundings were inhabited in the Neolithic (8-5 ct. BC). The line of the monuments built in the honour of the Illyrian divinities Vidas and Thiana (Thana), points to the presence of the Illyrians (tribes the Japodes and the Kolapijans, 3,000 years BC). In the area of Topusko we can also find traces of some other peoples, for example the Celts, the Goths, the French, the Hungarians etc. The real development of Topusko begins after the arrival of the Romans. The most crucial event in the history of Topusko would be the building of the Roman road Via Eksecirtualis, which in turn sparked the creation of the Roman colony Ad Fines, which ultimately turned into modern day Topusko. The remnants of the luxurious architecture, the devices for heating the houses with hot water, the painted walls of the houses, the discovered altars dedicated to the Roman and domestic divinities, the grave-monuments, tools, ornaments, money (which was thrown into the thermal springs) are very valuable artifacts that tell us about the persistence of the colony through the whole antiquity. Topusko flourishes again in 1192 as a thermal resort in the time of Andrew II of Hungary, who in the time of his reign built a magnificent chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Pohod in a Gothic style. Its dilapidated front is being kept with all its monumentality in the park "Opatovina". This Cistercian…