Jovići

Jovići is a small village located 5 kilometars east of Ražanac, at an altitude of 160 meters. State road D 106 Posedarje – Pag passes through Jovići. They are about 700 meters away from the southern shore od Velebit channel, and an asphalted road leads to the sea. The favorite bathing spots of Jovići are Radanovica, Vrulja, Dvogrlice, Baraćevo kupalo, Ikinca and Čelinka. Karst stretches between the sea and the houses, and towards Ražanac an oak forest is growing.

Today’s Jovići are distributed into three groups of vilages: Eastern Jovići (Demo, Jović and Miočić families), middle Jovići (Jović, Bukvić, Pavić and Gruban families) and Western Jovići (Barać, Mustać, Kandasić and Vuleta families). All three villages have around 350 inhabitants. The largest hamlet is in the middle Jovići, where a school was built between two wars, and a church with a village cemetery.

Locals have been engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture since ancient times. Due to salt, bora and low-income agriculture , they have always been involved in seafaring, so there is not a house in Jovići without at least one seafarer.

History

Jovići were created in the area where the old Croatian village Čakavci stood. They got their name from the Jović family, which has been there since 1609 in Polačina, i.e. in the village of Pustojanci. Before Turks came to this area, Croatian villages Pustojanci, big Čakavci and small Čakavci existed in that area, and they are mentioned in 1367 during the time of Croatian princes Marković of Šubić family from Bribir. Due to the incursions of the Turks into these regions, as well as many of our villages, the Pustojanci and Čakavci were completely destroyed. We learn from the records that the princes Marković sold their estates in Čakavci from 1501 till 1508, most likely from the fear of Turks. The last Marković prince is mentioned in 1551 when he sold his land to Grgur Jurinković.