Old town of Pirovac

On the maps dating from the 16th and the 18th century Pirovac was marked as Sloβeln, Sloslein which is a german diminutive for the word castle – croatian Dvorac, Dvorci, Dvorčići, of which there are many in this area around Pirovac. Sloβeln has probably evolved into Zloselo. There is also a possibility that Pirovac was a so called „fortification/castle by the sea“ of some croatian kings and later of knights templars from the Lake Vrana.

By the middle of 18th century Pirovac was an island surrounded by walls and accessible by a bascule bridge over the Gate of the village. At the beginning of the 20th century this area was leveled and became the part of the mainland while the Gate of the village remains the memory of past battles with Ottoman conquerers who failed to break thorugh the walls because of the brave people from Pirovac who offered fierce resistance.