Thirteen Slovenian and Croatian Towns in Order of First Written Mention, from Izola to Vrbovsko

Izola, on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia's Littoral region, has the earliest record on this path: it was first mentioned in writing as Insula in a Venetian document called Liber albus in 932. Its name comes from the Italian word for island, and its center still sits on the former island site, which was joined to the mainland in the early 19th century.

Cerknica, in the Karst region of Inner Carniola, was first attested in writing as Circhinitz in 1040. Its name comes from a Slavic root meaning church village, and its late Gothic parish church of the Nativity of Mary was built between 1480 and 1520.

Sveti Ivan Zelina, about 27 kilometers northeast of Zagreb, is first mentioned in 1185, and the Croatian source adds that it received free town privileges from the ban Mikac in 1328. It was known simply as Zelina in the Yugoslav era from 1947 before taking back its full name after 1990.

Krapina was first mentioned in 1193 by Kalán Bár-Kalán, bishop of Pécs and ban of Croatia and Dalmatia. It is the administrative center of Krapina-Zagorje County, and its best-known claim is the Neanderthal fossil site, where more than 800 remains were unearthed in 1899 on the nearby Husnjakovo hill.

Črnomelj appears in 1228 as Schirnomel in a charter issued by the Patriarch of Aquileia. The town lies on the left bank of the Lahinja and Dobličica rivers at the heart of White Carniola, the southeastern part of Lower Carniola.

Ozalj is first mentioned in 1244 as a free royal town, built on a cliff over the Kupa river near the Slovenian border. It is known for its castle and St. Vitus Church, and April 30 marks the anniversary of the 1671 execution of the local nobles Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan.

Novi Vinodolski, on the Adriatic coast south of Crikvenica, has its first written mention in 1288. It began as Frankopan family property in the 13th century, the period from which its most valuable heritage survives, including the Law Codex of Vinodol.

Zagorje ob Savi was attested in written sources as Zagorie in 1296, with later spellings such as Sager in 1362. The discovery of coal deposits in 1755 drove the town's development, and coal mining remained a main activity until the last mines closed in 1995.

Radeče was first mentioned in written documents in 1297 and was granted market rights in 1338. It was formally declared a town in 1925, and its iron bridge of 1893 to 1894, designed by the Czech architect Jan Vladimir Hrasky, is a protected cultural monument.

The settlement of Bistrica is first mentioned in written sources in 1300, according to the Slovenian source cited on the page. The word Ilirska was added in the period when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Illyria, between 1816 and 1849, to tell it apart from other towns of similar name in Inner Carniola.

Obrovac was first mentioned in 1337 under the name Obrouec, when the Croatian noble Kurjaković family, also known as the Counts of Krbava, were its first rulers. It lies in the canyon of the Zrmanja River in northern Dalmatia, with the ruins of a fortified fortress above the town.

The earliest reference to Duga Resa is from 1380. It grew through industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in 1880 it became home to the first known electric generator in Croatia, built to power its textile industry.

Vrbovsko closes the path with a first mention on 22 February 1481, in a document freeing the citizens of Grič from tariffs. It sits at the eastern edge of the mountainous Gorski Kotar region, was declared a royal free city in 1785, and was upgraded from municipality to city status in 1997.