GOSPI
, a town in the central part of Lika, situated on a drained plateau near the Novcica river; elevation 656 m; population 9,025. The town was first mentioned in 1692; from 1733 it developed as a new, planned seat of the Regiment of Lika. Later it became the seat of the Regiment of Krajina and in the 1880s the centre of the County of Lika and Krbava. It is the administrative, cultural, educational and medical centre of Lika. Its economic basis is rather poor (metal-working plants, battery industry, agricultural combine, building contractors, textile industry, etc.). In terms of functionality and gravitation, it is limited to the basin of Lika and Gracac; however, the intersection of the main road (M5) and regional roads over the Velebit pass of Vrata renders Gospic a very favourable geographical and communicational position. It is also located on the railroad Zagreb - Split.The town was established in the 17th century, at the time of the Military Border, as the centre of the Lika headquarters and the brigade headquarters of the Regiment of Lika and Otocac. Among the structures, the most prominent are the tower of Aga Senkovic, army barracks from 1767 and the late Baroque parish church of
St. Mary from 1780. The church bears a memorial tablet, dedicated to those who fell in the battle of Bilaj in 1809 (R. Franges-Mihanovic). In the chapel of St. John Nepomuk are three paintings from the 18th-19th century. On the cemetery is
The Bust of a Woman with Ducats, a work by Ivan Rendic, from 1907 (tombstone of Lovro Pavelic) and on the square a monument dedicated to Nikola Tesla, made by F. Krsinic (1981). In Gospic there is also the Museum of Lika, opened in 1958, with archaeological, ethnographic, historical (recent history) and art collections. Dominant are archaeological finds (Iapodian culture, Roman coins found in Licki Ribnik). Within the Museum is also the regional collection "Nikola Tesla's Birth-house" in the village of Smiljan.
