S o t i n
Sotin     - Vukovar - Croatia - Europe
There are one or several special places in everybody life. For the author of this page one of them is Sotin. That is a place I spent my childhood and left it when I went to university. This page is my way to give in return what it gave to me.
From the history of Sotin
Sotin area has been inhabited since the prehistory. On fertile land by the river of Danube one can find many tracks of rich cultural heritage. In the last century before Christ an Illyrian tribe by the name of Kornakate; had lived there. A settlement Cornac; (known also as Cornacum) at the place of todays Sotin, has been named after it. After the decay of Roman civilization and great migrations of nations, as well as the settling of Croats in these parts, the history of Sotin began.
The first mention of Sotin in written documents was in 1289. under the Hungarian name Szata. It must have been founded much earlier, because by that time it was developed settlement to wich the documents refer to as a "town";. It was situated at an important route, there was a ferry on the river of Danube, handcraft and trade were also well developed. As early as 1333. there was the first mention of the catholic church parish in Sotin.
During the Turkish rule (1526 - 1687) Sotin remained an important site, where the native catholic population although intermingled with the Moslem majority kept its integrity.
After the Turks had been banished from this area in the region of Srijem (Sirmium), with the center in Vukovar, there were large scale changes in the population structure. Beside the native Croatian population, Croats from neighbouring parts, together with some Serbs started inhabiting the region, and in the 18th and 19th century they were joined by Germans and some Hungarians. Franciscans came to Sotin where they restored the church dedicated to St. Lucas, the Evangelist and St. Vito, the Martyr.
In the year 1739. the picture of Blessed Virgin Mary has been transferred from Belgrade to Sotin. The Miraculous picture used to attract masses of believers, so in 1768. a new church dedicated to Mary, the Helpmate has been built.
Since 1758. the rule of the parish of Sotin had been entrusted to mundane priests.
From 18th till 20th century Sotin had 90% of catholic population. The Germans were in relative majority. With the German departure, in the tragic events of the WW II, the structure of population had considerably changed but since then Sotin still had more than 70% catholic population.
Serbian nationalism caused the aggression to the Republic of Croatia in 1991. and the Eastern regions of Croatia were attacked among which there was a town of Sotin. It was an attack on autonomy of the catholic Church and independence of the Republic of Croatia. The church of Sotin has been heavily demaged and plundered, and there are no precise information about the fate of the Miraculous picture of the Lady.
(Summary from the reprint of the book "Miraculos picture of the Lady of Sotin"; father Placido Belavic, Vukovar 1909.
Publisher: City museum of Vukovar, Zagreb 1995.)
National structure of population in Sotin 1910-1991
National structure of population in Sotin in the period 1910. -     1991. *
Year Croats Hungarians Germans Serbs Total
1910.
%		 391
28,6		 112
8,2		 776
56,7		 82
6,0		 1.369
100
1921.
%		 496
26,3		 361
19,1		 871
46,1		 116
6,1		 1.889
100
1948.
%		 678
58,0		 100
8,6		 3
0,3		 356
30,5		 1.168
100
1991.
%		 789
59,6		 44
3,3		 -
-		 372
28,1		 1.324
100
(Source: "Population of the town Vukovar and Vukovar area", A. Wertheimer-Baleti�, Zagreb 1993.)
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