Virovitica

Virovitica is a town in Croatia on the northern slopes of Bilogora mountain in the region of Podravina, 44 km southeast of Koprivnica; elevation 122 m; population 20,715 (2001). It is the center of the Virovitičko-podravska županija (county).

The economy is based on farming, livestock breeding, forestry, foodstuffs (sugar refinery, production of vinegar, ethyl alcohol, alcoholic drinks, animal fodder), wood and timber (furniture, moulds), metal-processing (fittings, tools, casts), leather (footwear), building material, tobacco processing and printing industries.

Virovitica is an important place in transit tourism because of the intersection of several roads and the railway junction. Virovitica is located at the intersection of the main roads (M3) Varaždin-Koprivnica-Osijek and (M16.01) Novska-Virovitica-state border-Barcs. It is also the railway junction of the routes Zagreb-Koprivnica-Osijek and Banova Jaruga-Daruvar-Virovitica.

Cultural institutions include the theatre and the town museum. The town is dominated by the Pejačević castle; the Baroque-style park next to the castle, arranged at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, is a horticultural monument.

There are several attractive excursion destinations in the immediate vicinity of Virovitica, the most interesting of them being large fishponds in Razbojište at the foot of Bilogora mountain and Milanovac on the wine-growing hills of Bilogora. This mountain also provides excellent hunting grounds (high and small game), while small game hunting and angling are possible along the Drava river.