Voloder, Popovača

Voloder sits beneath the slopes of Moslavačka gora, 5 km southeast of Popovača and 13 km northwest of Kutina. Vineyards, family cellars and Škrlet—the native white grape of Moslavina—shape the village’s identity, while the local Dvor škrleta places that variety firmly in the spotlight. Its principal landmark is the neo-Gothic parish church of St Anthony of Padua, built and consecrated in 1863 and furnished with an organ made by Šimenac in the same year. Since 1967, the Voloder Autumn festival has marked the beginning of the local grape harvest with winemakers, folklore and harvest traditions. Outside the festival weekend, the village works well as a quiet base for the Moslavina Wine Road and walks towards Moslavačka gora. Voloder also lies on the railway, and Croatian Railways has run special excursion trains from Zagreb for selected editions of the harvest festival. This concentration of wine culture, nineteenth-century church heritage and a long-running September celebration gives the small Moslavina settlement a remarkably distinct character.

Although administratively part of the Town of Popovača, Voloder has its own identity within Moslavina, built around vineyards and the Voloder Autumn festival. The settlement stands at 124 metres above sea level where the plain meets the lower slopes of Moslavačka gora, terrain long associated with grape growing. Škrlet is more than a promotional label here: it appears in local cellars, along the wine road and throughout the September grape-and-wine celebration. The 1863 Church of St Anthony of Padua gives the centre its neo-Gothic landmark; its polygonal sanctuary, side chapels and organ dating from the year of construction preserve a coherent nineteenth-century interior. Voloder consequently reveals this corner of Moslavina through wine, church heritage and vineyard-covered foothills.