Medieval Gudovac

Gudovac (Gwdoch, Gwodowcz), today the main fair place, and once a noble place, has its own took root in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County, only 7 kilometers from the town of Bjelovar. Although Gudovac is one of the oldest settlements within the wider area of ​​Bjelovar, whose past it leaves its traces since prehistoric times (the established Neolithic layer), then along the paths of antiquity (individual finds within the medieval layers), however, the historical pen remained a little more in the Middle Ages, more precisely, in the period from the 14th to the 16th century.

Exhibition Medieval Gudovac opened on March 21 in the Town Museum of Bjelovar, which will be the venue for two two-week reconstruction of a part of Bilogora's The archaeological department of the Town museum of Bjelovar investigates the area of the entire Bjelovar-Bilogora County. The natural borders of the county in the north and northeast are represented by the ridges of Bilogora, in the east the hills from Bilogora to Papuk and Ravna gora, in the south the valley of the river Ilova, in the southwest the hills and ridge of Moslavačka gora, and in the west the valley of the river Česma.

The oldest material remains in Bjelovar-Bilogora County, which bear witness to the settlement of this area and the activities of human life, originate from the Neolithic, that is, the younger Stone Age (around 6000 - 4500 BC), and the most famous site is the Korenova culture.

In further prehistoric periods (copper, bronze and iron), human life took place in these areas, and this is evidenced by the artifacts stored in the museum from numerous localities (Orovački vinogradi, Drljanovac (several positions), Velika Trnovitica (several positions), Ribnjačka...). After the prehistoric period, the ancient era began with the arrival of the Romans, whose settlement can be traced thanks to several localities. In the area of Bjelovar, the most important area is Lug. From the period of the Middle Ages, which lasted until the incursion of the Ottomans into the nearby areas, several types of sites with various findings (Gudovac - Gradina, Zrinski Topolovac (several positions), Domankuš - Zidine) originate.

Research in the Bilogora region goes back to the time when archeology as a science in Croatia was in its infancy, and the first interest in archeology was shown by professors at the Bjelovar Gymnasium - Gustav Fleischer (1856 - 1913), Dane Gruber (1856 - 1927) and Gjuro Szabo (1875 - 1943) who, at that time, represented the social and cultural elite of the city by their calling and occupations. The last two contributed their knowledge to the entire Croatian archeology and museology. Their "discovery" of rural Croatian areas and descriptions of all kinds of cultural heritage are the first steps of scientific study that continue in the second half of the 20th and into the 21st century.

With the founding of the Bjelovar museum (in 1949), archaeological activity gained importance, although the first trained archaeologist, Božidar Gerić, was employed in the museum in 1981. When talking about the beginnings of field research, it is certainly worth mentioning the important archeological trio - Ivan Barešić, Đura Jakšeković and Zvonimir Lovrenčević. Barešić founded a private museum, but later sold his legacy to the Town Museum of Bjelovar, and part of the objects ended up in the Military Museum in Belgrade.