The Spomenik Database was set up in 2016 by writer, history hobbyist and travel enthusiast Donald Niebyl to act as a comprehensive online resource for the most significant and notable of the abstract & modernist World War II monuments built in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from roughly 1960 to 1990 (structures commonly referred to as 'Spomeniks'), which are now, after the breakup of that country in the 1990s, scattered across the present-day regions of Croatia, Slovenia, N. Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia i Herzegovina and Montenegro.<br /><br />The spomenik complex at Podgora, Croatia, built in 1962, was intended to commemorate the creation of an anti-fascist naval force on the Dalmatian coast.<br /><br />The monument, which sits on a hillside above Podgora overlooking the town, consists of two large concrete stylized 'gull wings' set on a polished-marble paneled square platform. One of the 'wings' extends straight up into the sky, towering 32m above the monument's base, while the second 'wing' is bent horizontal halfway up the sculpture. This monument is among the tallest in all Croatia and is more than likely the tallest abstract sculpture in the whole country. Up-slope from the monument, a large amphitheatre is built into the hillside, where presentations and historical lectures were once given to visitors and 'young pioneer' student groups. From the top of the amphitheatre, amazing views can be seen below of the Adriatic and coastal town of Podgora.
The Spomenik Database was set up in 2016 by writer, history hobbyist and travel enthusiast Donald Niebyl to act as a comprehensive online resource for the most significant and notable of the abstract & modernist World War II monuments built in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from roughly 1960 to 1990 (structures commonly referred to as 'Spomeniks'), which are now, after the breakup of that country in the 1990s, scattered across the present-day regions of Croatia, Slovenia, N. Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia i Herzegovina and Montenegro.<br /><br />The spomenik complex at Podgora, Croatia, built in 1962, was intended to commemorate the creation of an anti-fascist naval force on the Dalmatian coast.<br /><br />The monument, which sits on a hillside above Podgora overlooking the town, consists of two large concrete stylized 'gull wings' set on a polished-marble paneled square platform. One of the 'wings' extends straight up into the sky, towering 32m above the monument's base, while the second 'wing' is bent horizontal halfway up the sculpture. This monument is among the tallest in all Croatia and is more than likely the tallest abstract sculpture in the whole country. Up-slope from the monument, a large amphitheatre is built into the hillside, where presentations and historical lectures were once given to visitors and 'young pioneer' student groups. From the top of the amphitheatre, amazing views can be seen below of the Adriatic and coastal town of Podgora.
