The Town of Gospić
The town of Gospić is the economic, administrative, religious, and cultural center of the Lika-Senj County. It is situated on the western edge of one of the largest karst valleys in Croatia, the Lika Plateau, at the foot of the largest and most beautiful Croatian mountain, Velebit, at the crossroads of routes leading from the north to the south, and along the banks of three rivers, the Lika, the Novčica, and the Bogdanica.
One of the legends about how the name Gospić came to be is the tale of two princesses, one of whom, called Gospava, founded the town. Another legend claims that the town was named after the “hospitium”, an inn in Kaniža founded by Capuchin monks from Karlobag in 1721. Traveling chronicles also wrote of a church near the old tower, with a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, which is another possible source of the town’s name (one of the Croatian names for the Virgin Mary is “Gospa”).
