Castles of Croatia

BATTHYANY, LUDBREG – castle of the Counts of Batthyany
Ludbreg's architectural history dates back to Roman times as evidenced by the archaeological site near the castle which was built in the late Baroque era, combining a medieval burgh and a Renaissance castle. The castle was first mentioned in 1320 under the name castrum. In the middle of the 16th century, at the time of the reign of the Thuroczy family, an outdoor bulwark, towers and water ditch were built so the building took on the characteristics of a Wasserburg (burgh). Count Ludovik Batthyany is responsible for the Baroque-Classicist castle, the construction of which began in 1745 and lasted until the beginning of the 19th century. Joseph Hueber, a prominent architect from Graz, was in charge of the construction.

The layout size of the castle amounts to 32x33 m with an inner courtyard. It consists of four floors. The fourth floor was originally incorporated into the mansard roof, which was altered in the 19th century, so the castle took on its present appearance. The castle is part of the Baroque-Classicist urban complex north of the medieval settlement. Two large two-story buildings were built south of the castle and numerous economic facilities were built on the north side. All were compositionally positioned around the central axis in a north-south direction.

Historical interiors were not preserved due to modifications to the castle in the 20th century. The original wall and ceiling paintings in the Hall of Sallaterain have been preserved on the ground floor of the western building south of the castle. Painted ceilings and walls in the castle Chapel of the Holy Cross from 1753 were restored in the 1950s. Their author is Michael Peck from Kaniža. There is a collection of sacral art and historical archives in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, including the Papal bull of Pope Leo X from 1513, confirming the Eucharistic Miracle from 1411 which, according to a legend, happened in the chapel in the Gothic tower of the castle.

The castle and the land were in the ownership of the Hungarian Counts of Batthyany for 228 years, from 1695 to 1923. In 1742, Queen Maria Theresa acknowledged the Ludbreg land as an inalienable good of the Batthyany family. For most of the 20th century, the castle did not have a quality purpose until 1992, when a Conservation Centre was established as an international restoration work room for art restoration.

OLD TOWN, VARAŽDIN – a medieval and Renaissance fortress and Erdödy Castle
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the fortress of county prefects (castrum comitis) was built next to the intersection of three Roman roads. Today's Old Town developed from it. The first mention of the name "Varaždin" was recorded in 1181. There was a settlement that developed as a suburb of the Old Town, which became a free royal town in 1209 – the first royal town in Croatia at the time, 33 years before Zagreb. Since then Varaždin is proprietarily and legally a dual town – a feudal/noble fortress of the Wasserburg type – today's Old Town – and a civil town that was the capital of Croatia from 1756 to 1776.

Architectural layers from the medieval era to the last thorough restoration in 1989 can be found in the nine centuries-long history of the Old Town. In the long history of construction, adjusting to military tasks and the needs of everyday life, the Old Town is recognized as a balanced unit of great national value with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque characteristics. The largest construction works were done in the 16th and 18th centuries – firstly because of the danger posed by the Turks, the medieval feudal town (Wasserburg) was transformed into a Renaissance fortress, followed by a Baroque transformation of the fortress into a castle that is suitable for housing. At the invitation of the owner Ivan Ungnad, the Renaissance construction works from 1544 to 1575 were led by Domenico dell'Allio, an Italian architect and the main fortress architect on the border with the Ottoman Empire. Round towers and tall earthen embankments surrounded by water moats were built which are largely preserved to this day. When the threat from the Turks no longer existed, the Old Town was restored in 1705, as evidenced by the inscription on the facade, and then again in 1776, when the thorough Baroque transformation of Varaždin began after the great fire.

Ivan Ungnad, the commander of the border area towards the Ottoman Empire, and Counts of Erdödy take credit for the construction, architectural transformations and preservation of the Old Town. In 1584, Ivan Ungnad's granddaughter married Thomas Erdödy II, a Croatian ban and the commander of the Croatian army in the defense of Sisak in 1593, bringing the Old Town as a dowry. Counts of Erdödy owned it for 340 years up until 1925 when, on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of the Kingdom of Croatia, the "Varaždin" City Museum was opened in the Old Town.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the Museum in the Old Town, 450 years since the construction of the Renaissance fortress, 250 years since the end of the Baroque transformation of the Old Town and 1,100 years of the Kingdom of Croatia.

ZRINSKI, ČAKOVEC – medieval burgh and a Renaissance and Baroque fortress with a castle

Today's castle in Čakovec contains a medieval Wasserburg, a Renaissance fortress of pentagonal shape with Renaissance and Baroque bastions, a Baroque manor/palace in the center and a park from the 19th century built in the area of a glacis (glacis, clearing). Such a layered architectural unit was the core of the settlement that has been developing as a suburb since the Middle Ages. Today this complex with a park is the center of a contemporary city and the most valuable cultural and historical monument in Međimurje.

In the seven-centuries-long history, four families are to be thanked for the castle. It was in the possession of the Croatian noble family Ernušt for 67 years (1473–1541), 124 years in the possession of the Zrinski family (1546–1670), the family of the Czech counts Althan owned it for 71 years (1719–1791) and the Croatian noble family Feštetić for 127 years (1791–1919). After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919, the history of this noble estate ends. From the mid-19th century up until the middle of the 20th century, the castle was used for various purposes – sugar factory, for housing, as an educational institution. Since 1954 it has been owned by the "Čakovec" Museum of Međimurje. Today this is a renovated historical complex of the fortress and a castle as a museum of the intangible cultural heritage of Međimurje with an in situ depiction of the architectural development from a burgh and a fortress to a castle and a museum.

In the late Middle Ages (13th century) a wooden fortification was built at the time of the reign of the Čaka family (Csáka), who gave Čakovec its name. It was mentioned as a fortified palace in 1333, and by the middle of the 16th century, a Wasserburg was built with defensive walls. In the 16th century ban Nikola Zrinski built Bastion fortifications, turning the burgh into a strong lowland Renaissance fortress to defend against the Turks. After the earthquake in 1738, the Counts of Althan restored the fortress, built/upgraded a quadrangular manor/palace with an inner courtyard and built a new tower above the entrance. At the time of the reign of the Feštetić family there were no major construction works because, in the middle of the 19th century, they decided to build a new castle in a nearby Pribislavec.

FEŠTETIĆ, PRIBISLAVEC – old Zrinski Palace and the new Feštetić Castle
Pribislavec, a property that belonged to the nobility with headquarters in Čakovec, is located three kilometers east of Čakovec. The owners are the same as the owners of the Čakovec estate – the Ernušt family (1473-1541), Zrinski (1546-1670), Althan (1719-1791) and Feštetić (1791-1923). There was an old castle in an elevated position, which is mentioned in a text from 1752 from the era of the Counts of Althan. The smaller castle supposedly existed at the time of reign of the Zrinski family as the seat of Majur.

Today's castle was built in the middle of the 19th century by Count Juraj Feštetić, a descendant of the old noble family Feštetić (hun. Festetics), originating in Turopolje, southeast of Zagreb. King Ferdinand II gave them the title of nobility and the coat of arms in 1625. Family members owned estates in different places of the Habsburg Monarchy. Their influence in southwest Hungary, where they owned the Kesthely Castle, was strong. Feštetić family gave up investing in the renovation of the castle in Čakovec and from 1850 to 1870 they built a new castle in Pribislavec. The castle was built in the neo-Gothic style with carved stones, with accompanying economic buildings and a park. It is a one-story castle with a U-layout with an attached Neo-Gothic tower, prominent oriel window, high windows and neo-Gothic decorations on the facades. They lived in the castle until 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. There is a coat of arms of the Feštetić family on the castle, which is well-known by stork or heron. Emperor and king Franz Joseph I visited the castle twice, in 1887 and in 1896.

The castle was destroyed and robbed in 1918 and 1941, when the roof burned down, but was restored in 1944. A thorough and lengthy renovation for educational purposes lasted from 1946 to 1968. A primary school was located in the castle from 1952 to 2020, when it was moved to another building. Međimurje County – the new owner of the castle – started to prepare project documentation for the renovation and conversion of the castle into a heritage hotel with accompanying cultural content.

academic Mladen Obad Šćitaroci
prof. dr. sc. Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci