The watermill complex at Roški slap waterfall is one of the most interesting and valuable ethnographic monuments in Dalmatia and Croatia.
It is not known exactly when the first mills (watermills) appeared in the area of Roški slap waterfall. We do know that they existed in the area of the Krka and Čikola Rivers in the Roman period times, from a Roman inscription on a bronze plate originating from the area of ancient Promona, but actual remains of Roman mills on the Krka River have not yet been ss
Medieval mills preceded the present-day ones. The written sources and information about the mills at Roški slap show almost no differences from those at Skradinski buk, which are often mentioned in historical sources.
The mills at Roški slap were also owned by the Franciscans of Visovac. When the area of Roški slap fell under Ottoman Turkish rule at the beginning of the 16th century, the mills were taken over by the Turks because they were necessary for the supply of flour to their army. All of them, including that of Visovac, changed masters. They remained under Turkish rule until the end of the 17th century, when this area was conquered by the Venetian Republic.
The operation of the watermills and other hydraulic devices at Roški slap was endangered by a hydroelectric power plant built in 1909 by the Coal Exploitation Company from Siverić. Today, the mills bear the names of both old and new owners (the Kulušić/Marasović mill, the Samodol/Skelin mill, the Jović mill, the Šostera mill, friar’s mill…).
