culture of croatia

History

The culture of Croatia has roots in a long history: the Croats have been inhabiting the area for thirteen centuries, but there are important remnants of the earlier periods still preserved in the country. Some of the earliest remaining historical features include:

100,000 year old bones of a Neandertal man near Krapina (Krapina-Zagorje county)
Neolithic excavation sites in Ščitarjevo near Zagreb, Sopot near Vinkovci, Vučedol near Vukovar, Nakovanj on the Pelješac peninsula and elsewhere
records of inhabitation of the island of Vis by ancient Greeks (the queen Teuta of Issa)
many buildings and ruins from the ancient Roman period, including many Roman cities throughout the Dalmatian coast, notably the aqueduct of Salona, emperor Diocletian's Palace in Split, Euphrasius' Basilica in Poreč

The early middle ages brought the great migration of the Slavs and this period was perhaps a Dark Age in the cultural sense until the successful formation of the Slavic states which coexisted with Italic cities that remained on the coast, each of them were modelled like Venice. By joining the Hungarian state in the eleventh century, Croatia lost its independence, but it didn't lose its ties with the south and the west, and instead this ensured the beginning of a new era of Central European cultural influence. Similarly, the beginning of the wars with the Ottoman Empire caused many problems but in the long term it both reinforced the northern influence (by having the Austrians as the rulers) and also introduced a distinct oriental cultural influence. The turbulent twentieth century re-oriented Croatia politically on many occasions and affected it in many other ways, but it couldn't significantly alter its already peculiar position at the crossroads of many different cultures.

Arts and literature

Education

Croatia has four universities in four regional centers:

University of Zagreb http://www.unizg.hr/
University of Split http://www.unist.hr/
University of Rijeka http://www.uniri.hr/
University Josip Juraj Strossmayer, Osijek http://www.unios.hr/

Each of the universities is composed of several faculties which focus on more specific branches of education such as natural sciences, philosophy, economy, law, engineering, architecture, etc. The faculties are generally concentrated in the same city but they can also exist in other cities, such as the faculties in Zadar or Sisak. There are also a number of scientific institutes. There's also a Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb.