Vinkovci

Vinkovci is a town on the bank of the Bosut River[?] in eastern Slavonia, 19 km southwest of Vukovar, 24 km north of Zupanja[?] and 43 km south of Osijek; elevation 90 m; population 35,347. Economy is based on farming, livestock breeding, leather, textile, wood and timber, metal-processing, foodstuff and building material industries; Crop Improvement Centre. Vinkovci is the main railway junction of eastern Croatia; the meeting point of the Posavina and Podravina roads and the railroads leading from Bosnia and Herzegovina toward Hungary. Vinkovci is located at the intersection of the main road (M1.7) Zupanja Vinkovci Vukovar and several regional roads.

The large railway junction, after Zagreb the second largest in Croatia, underlies the importance of transit in Vinkovci. The town features extremely rich cultural and historical heritage, the most interesting attraction being the pre-Romanesque church on Meraja from 1100, with the coats of arms of the kings Koloman and Ladislas, as one of the most important mediaeval cultural monuments in Croatia. The most famous annual event, one of the biggest in Slavonia, is the folk music festival, which includes the folklore show and the presentation of folk customs of Slavonia the Vinkovci Autumns (Vinkovacke Jeseni). It is characterized by a number of original folk music performances, beautiful traditional costumes, a beauty contest, competitions of the manufacturers of "kulen" (smoked paprika-flavoured sausage), plum brandy and other traditional foodstuffs, and especially by the magnificent closing parade. Numerous hunting grounds south of the town attract a number of domestic and foreign huntsmen. Organized hunting, partly also fishing, is accompanied by comfortable accommodation facilities (hunting lodges Merolino and Grabarje) and a selection of local specialities.