Metković
Metković is a city in the
Dubrovnik-Neretva county of
Croatia, with a population of 13,873, while its whole municipality has 15,384 inhabitants (2001). Absolute majority of its citizens are Croats with 96.42% (2001 census). It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river
Neretva.
The city was first mentioned in a
1422 court document as a small farming town. It remained this way until the nineteenth century. During this period the city found renewed investment from the country's
Austrian rulers. With the arrival of the area's first post office and school, as well as the increase of trade to the
Ottoman Empire, the city began to flourish. In
1875 Emperor
Francis Joseph I visited the city.
One of the city's landmarks is its Church of St.
Elijah. Metković is located near the ancient Roman settlement of
Narona (today
Vid). Narona was established as a Roman trading post, after their successful war with neighboring
Illyrian tribe
Daors (ruins of their main city are located near
Stolac), and successful grew until the 3rd century AD, after then it went on a steady decline especially after the large
earthquake that happened in the 4th century AD. Upon the arrival of Slavonic tribes in the middle 6th century AD, the city of Narona was abandoned with most parts being covered under slit that was carried by the flooding of river Neretva. Only minor excavations were done, most of them being concentrated on location of Vid.
Metković has the following education facilities:
* Primary schools:
**
Stjepan Radić Primary school (
Croatian Osnovna škola Stjepan Radić) [
1]
** Don Mihovil Pavlinović Primary school (
Croatian Osnovna škola don Mihovil Pavlinović) [
2]
* Secondary schools:
** Metković High School [
3]
** Metković Gymnasium (classical high school) [
4]
For tertiary studies students need to move to other cities in Croatia, the most common destinations are:
Dubrovnik (business, management, accounting, music),
Split (sciences, management, accounting),
Zagreb (music, arts, sciences, applied sciences, engineering, architecture, education, humanities, management, accounting, business),
Zadar (humanities, education, early childhood education).
* Sports
**
Darijo Srna, soccer player
**
* Other
**
Branka Bebić, miss Croatia
** Fr. Ante Gabrić, missionary in
India and close co-worker of
Mother Teresa*
City of Metković 
