Udbina is a town in Lika with the population of 1160, situated in the southern part of the Krbava field (Krbavsko poije), on the Plitvice lakes - Obrovac road (530 meters above sea level). It is an archaeological site from the Roman period, but there are also the remains of a medieval town.
Udbina used to be the best-known cattle market in Lika. Krbava was a Croatian district already in the 10th century, while Udbina was first mentioned as a district in 1008. In 1185 a diocese with the see in Udbina was established at a synod in Split; it included Krbava, Novigrad, Dreznik, Plaski and a half of the territory of Lika. Bishop Matija built the cathedral.
Before the Turks attacked, bishop Franjo moved the see to Modrus which joined the Senj diocese in 1833. In Modruski Gvozd there was a monastery of St. Nicholas with 80 monks. It was here that bishop Simun Kozetic Benja founded a printing office for the printing of books in Glagolits, where the Croatian missal of a great significance for the Croatian culture was printed in 1531. The most trying war in the history of Croatia was the Croatian-Turkish war which lasted a hundred years. In 1493 in the battle on the Krbava field near Udbina 13000 Croatian knights under the leadership of ban Derencin and 70 priests were killed by the Turks.
Since the battle Lika and Krbava were under the Turkish rule until 1860. During centuries the Turks were banishing the Croats and bringing the Vlachs to settle, so that the ethnic composition was changing. In 1942 all the Croats left Udbina running away from the Chetniks who rebelled against the newly formed Independent State of Croatia under the leadership of Ante Pavelic. In the war for the independence of Croatia this territory was liberated from the Chetniks in 1995, and the Croats returned to their homes.
At the Udbina airport there is a painting called Ruza vjetrova (54x86 m), which is at the moment the largest painting in Europe (Udbina art 95). It was painted after the liberation of the occupied Croatian territory. The airport was turned into a sports airfield and Croatian artists painted this master-piece symbolizing peace. It took 2 tons of paint to finish it. The town also has an old people's home, a dairy and a cattle farm in Josani. In Josani there was the church of St. Mark, known for its priest Mar-ko Mesic who was the ring-leader of the rebellion against the Turks in Lika in 1689. From Udbina there is a wonderful view on the Udbina castle, the old Turkish tower and the whole Krbava field.
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