Located in central Croatia, on a plateau in the southern part of Bilogora mountains, Bjelovar was first mentioned in 1413, but gained importance only when a new fort was built there in 1756, at the command of the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. The central square and park was named after Eugen Kvaternik (1825-1871), a Croatian nationalist politician, one of the founders of the Party of Rights, the leader of the 1871 Rakovica Revolt which was an attempt to create an independent Croatian state.
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