Smiljan

For the village in Bulgaria, see Smilyan.
Smiljan
—  Village  —
Statue of Nikola Tesla at the Nikola Tesla Memorial Center in Smiljan
Smiljan
Location of Smiljan within Croatia
Coordinates:
Country Croatia
County Lika-Senj County
Municipality Gospić
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 417
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 53211 Smiljan
Area code(s) +053

Smiljan (pronounced [smî̞ʎan]) is a village in the mountainous region of Lika in Croatia. It is located 6 km (3.7 mi) northwest of Gospić, and fifteen kilometers from the Zagreb-Split highway; its population is 417 (2011).[1]

Contents

Tesla

Smiljan is known best for being the birthplace of Nikola Tesla on July 10, 1856.[2]

Due to celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of electricity pioneer and inventor Nikola Tesla, Croatian officials opened a Tesla memorial complex, including a museum inside his restored childhood home.[2] Today, Tesla's birth house, together with the Orthodox church of St. Peter and Paul (built in 1765)[3] and the surrounding area, represents a memorial complex with various exhibits of Tesla's inventions and a museum where the details of the inventor's life are shown.[4] There is also a congress hall in a nearby building. The original memorial complex was built in 1956.[4] During the Croatian War of Independence, several of the buildings were severely damaged by fire.[3] The Croatian authorities restored it and reopened it in a 2006 ceremony with the highest dignitaries of Croatia as well as Serbia.[5]

Surroundings

In the surroundings are hill-forts Bogdanić, Smiljan and Krčmar, prehistoric tombs, the churches of St. Anastasia, St. Mark and St. Vitus. The parish church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was built in 1860.[6] A nearby village of Smiljansko Polje ("Field of Smiljan") has 136 residents.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011, First Results by Settlements" (in Croatian and English) (HTML). Statistical Reports (Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics) (1441). June 2011. ISSN 1332-0297. http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/htm/E11_Zup32_1309.html. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  2. ^ a b "Electrical pioneer Tesla honoured". BBC News. 10 July 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5167054.stm. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
  3. ^ a b "Lika napokon otkrila Teslu [Lika finally discovers Tesla]" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 2006-07-08. http://www.jutarnji.hr/lika-napokon-otkrila-teslu/227052/. Retrieved 2011-08-11. "Vesna Bunčić, ravnateljica Muzeja Like u kojem se čuvaju namještaj i predmeti iz Tesline rodne kuće. Kada je u svibnju 1992. jedan projektil pao na gospodarski objekt tik uz kuću, izbio je požar u kojem je ta drvena zgradica u potpunosti izgorjela. No, požar je zahvatio i dio krova Tesline rodne kuće. - Pripadnici HV-a ugasili su požar, a onda su namještaj i svi predmeti deponirani u Muzeju Like. Od 2000. godine Muzej Like krenuo je u sanaciju krova, dok je gospodarski objekt ponovno sagrađen 2003. godine - pojasnila je Vesna Bunčić. U Muzeju su, uz namještaj, i porculanski predmeti te 133 knjige iz biblioteke Teslina oca Milutina. Namještaj će tu i ostati jer se u obnovljenoj Teslinoj kući sada priprema drukčiji postav." 
  4. ^ a b "Museum of Lika in Gospić – Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre in Smiljan". Museum Documentation Center (Croatia). http://hvm.mdc.hr/muzej-like-gospic---memorijalni-centar-nikola-tesla-smiljan,762%3ASMN/en/info/. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  5. ^ "150. obljetnica rođenja Nikole Tesle [150th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla]" (in Croatian). HINA. Office of the President of Croatia. 2006-07-10. http://www.predsjednik.hr/Default.aspx?art=12900&sec=810. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  6. ^ culturenet

External links