Crikvenica

On the Vinodol coast of the Adriatic, Crikvenica grew around a church and fortified Pauline monastery founded by Prince Nikola IV Frankopan in 1412. The town's name recalls the local word for a church. Above the shore lay the older hill settlement of Kotor, while the monastery provided a focus for the developing community below.

Settlement along the coast increased in the 17th century. In 1760 the administration of Vinodol was moved from Bribir to the monastery at Crikvenica, enhancing the settlement's local importance. A fire damaged Kotor and its parish church in 1776, after which the parish priest moved to Crikvenica. The movement of people from the hill to the coast took place over a longer period, gradually shifting the center of local life toward the sea.