There are only a few settlements that can boast with so rich culture and history as the settlement Ripac near Bihac in BH Krajina.
From Japods and Slavens to Croatian nobles, Ottomans, and Austro-Hungarians, this region has always been adorned with the beauty of Una River and a special natural environment.
Ripac was mentioned for the first time in 1408 in the charter of the Hungarian king Sigesmund. However, according to Ibrahim Dupanovic, a former teacher, athlete, and officer, although Bihac was mentioned in 1260 for the first time, Ripac is a settlement older than Bihac, because the existence of its dwellings is dating back to the 7th century BC.
When the Ottoman Empire signed a peace agreement with Austria on January 26, and 12 days later, on February 7, 1699, with the Venetian Republic or the so-called Karlovac Peace, according to which the Ottomans permanently lost their possessions in Slavonia, Lika, Krbava and Dalmatia, the process of forming the contemporary borders of BiH officially started. During this period started the most important wave of migrations in Ripac.
“Since Ruznici settlement is located on a hill, it is quite isolated from the rest of the settlement, and the people usually called it the Small Albania. Ripac rapidly developed after the World War II, when infrastructure, cultural institutions, and sports were developed, which made Ripac recognizable in the area of the municipality of Bihac.”
Despite the fact that it was fully burned back in 1941, Ripac largely developed after that period and reached its peak when it had four settlements: Mahala, Otoka, Carsija, and Ruzici. Before the aggression on BiH, the village Ripac developed so much that it had a lime trees alley and a large number of shops, and it also had a well-developed economy. Unfortunately, everything changed after the war, and the image of Ripca largely changed as well, said Dupanovic.
At the entrance to the old part of Ripac through Golubici, there is a graveyard where three large martyr tombstones, which were preserved from the first half of the 18th century. The tombstones are about 1.6 meters high and their diameters are about 40 centimeters with large turbans at the top. They are decorated with swords, maces, and spears.
Considering that they are quite old, it is impossible to fully and correctly read the inscriptions and names on them. If you take a look at this part of history, it is possible that they are the heroes of the Bosniak army who lost their lives while defending that part of Bosnian Pashaluk from the attack of the Austro-Hungarian army.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
