Sveti Ivan Žabno

For better defense against the Turks, Austria-Hungary established a Military border (Krajina) here. People are returning to the almost abandoned area, but even more so due to the need for defense, new residents are moving in from the south and east. New immigrants and the remaining native population are given significant rights, but also restrictions. Everyone becomes a border guard. They get rid of secular and ecclesiastical obligations, but take on the even heavier burden of being a soldier and a farmer at the same time, because a border guard had to take care of life, food and equipment, and always be ready for defense, fight, war. It is in these areas of ours that the forerunner of Christianity was established.

The continuity of life and settlement of people in the area around St. Ivan Žabno can be traced back more than 7,000 years ago. The oldest historical findings confirm the habitation of these areas from the Early Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and up to the Middle Ages. The archaeological site on the site of today’s Brezovljani settlement represents one of the richest sites of the Sopot culture (2800-2650 BC), the so-called Brezovla type of Sopot culture. Numerous ancient finds are also valuable in the very center of St. Ivan Žabno, around the parish church. In historical documents, Sveti Ivan Žabno is mentioned for the first time as early as 1201 as Sabnicha. The name Sveti Ivan is also very old and was mentioned as early as 1323.

The most valuable monuments of sacred architecture are the parish church of St. John the Baptist in St. Ivan Žabno and the church of St. Juliane in Trema is one of the rare early baroque sacral buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries that has preserved its original appearance, it was mentioned as a parish church from 1667 to 1879. The parish church of St. Peter in Sveti Petar Čvrstec was first mentioned as a parish church in 1334, but only a few remains remain of it (the bell tower in front of the facade). The Church of the Visitation of Mary in Cirkvena is located in the center of the village, it was first mentioned in 1306.
In 1871, the Military Region was abolished, and all power was taken over by the civil administration. The Bjelovar-Križevačka County was founded. That county was divided into two subcounties, Križevačka and Bjelovarska. In 1866, the political administration in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was reorganized.
Sveti Ivan Žabno and its surroundings then developed into an important agricultural region, and the town itself developed crafts and industry. Sveti Ivan Žabno also became an important market place.

After the Second World War, a municipality was formed in Sveti Ivan Žabno, which was part of Križevci district. It was abolished in 1962 and included in the municipality of Križevci and Vrbovec. At the beginning of the 13th century, the former Žabno (Sabnicha) was given the full name Sveti Ivan Žabno, i.e. when the church of St. John the Baptist was built. On July 30, 1954, the Executive Council of the Croatian Parliament abolished the name Sveti Ivan. On June 21, 1990, the Križevci Municipality Assembly returned the town’s full name to Sveti Ivan Žabno.

The municipality of Sveti Ivan Žabno was part of the former municipality of Križevci until 1993, and became independent that year. It celebrates its day, which is also the day of the parish of Saint John the Baptist, on June 24 every year.