The town is also its administrative, cultural and economic center with 1753 inhabitants (2001 census). Built on a hill above the Vinodol valley and in the Middle Ages it was the center of the Vinodol region that developed around the fort, a castle built by the Frankopans in 1302 and demolished in the 19th century, of which only a square tower with part of the walls has survived. Bribir is a town with a rich cultural tradition, sacral and historical heritage.
As a town and a Frankopan fortress with a developed “self-government”, it was first mentioned by name in 1288 in the Vinodol Act, a document which regulated the legally existing practice, habits and customs between the nobility and the people that had already been established in Vinodol. Of the many sacral buildings, the church of St. Peter and Paul built in 1524. It is a shrine erected by the patrons of Bribir, which Bribir people celebrate every June 29 with a Mass and secular celebrations. The famous botanist Josip Pančić was born in the settlement of Ugrini near Bribir.
With its structure as a smaller urban environment, Bribir provides all basic services to the citizens of the entire Vinodol municipality. It houses health, educational and cultural institutions and shops, restaurants, numerous service trades. Also, for tourists in Bribir there are places in many beautifully decorated apartments in the ambience of typical traditional stone buildings of the Vinodol region.
The rich treasury of St. Peter and Paul parish church contains a Renaissance relief of Mother of God with Christ, or the White Lady, a work of Florentine painters which designed it in white marble; a painting by Jacop Palma Jr. called “Washing of Christ's Feet”, which is a significant work of art. Also significant are Renaissance custodia with an iron grate from the 15th century and the main marble altar designed by the sculptor Antonio Michelazzi. The crucifix of bishops of Krbava, the so-called Milonja’s Crucifix from the 13th century, which was brought to Vinodol by bishop Modruša Krištafor, also belongs to St. Peter and Paul Church, but it is preserved in Rijeka.
The remnants of old walls and the town tower remind of the times of the princes of Frankopan, whose rule of four centuries left deep spiritual and material imprints in Vinodol. Bribir flourished the most in the time of Prince Bernardin Frankopan, who strengthened the citadel and town walls. When the squire’s estate of Bribir was abolished in 1848, local government leveled Vela and Mala vrata (entrance doors leading inside the walls) and the citadel, and a school was built in their place. This is how the long and glorious history of Bribir’s citadel ended in ruins. The only remnants of Bribir’s citadel are the quadrangular tower dating from 1302 and a part of the walls. The hill on which the old part of the town is located offers view of the valley and of Novi Vinodolski. Renaissance works of art in St. Peter and Paul Church bear witness to the high level of cultural and civilizational attainments of medieval Vinodol and to strong bonds with Europe.
