The Rapicio Castle (; ), also Rapicio House (; ) was the residence of the Rapicio family in

Pazin Pazin (, ) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 li ...

, Croatia. Located on the edge of a cliff, it was built in the 16th century. It was bombed together with the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

gymnasium in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and today the only vestiges are its ruins.

History

The house was built by the Rapicios in the ''

cinquecento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1500 to 1599 are collectively referred to as the Cinquecento (, ), from the Italian for the number 500, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1500. Cinquecento encompasses the st ...

''. They had moved to Pazin in the same century, inter-marrying with the most prominent families of the County of Pisino. It was built on the edge of a cliff (

foiba A foiba (from Italian: ; plural: foibe or foibas)—''jama'' () in South Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric Alpine karst)—is a type of deep natural sinkhole, do ...

), near

Pazin Castle The Pazin Castle ( , German: ''Mitterburg'') is a medieval fortification built on a solid rock situated in the middle of the town of Pazin, the administrative seat of Istria County, Croatia. It is the largest and best-preserved castle in that weste ...

, probably for safety reasons. The castle was bombed along with the Italian gymnasium during World War II. Dilapidated, its ruins are still present.

Gallery

File:HR-IS-Pazin66.jpg, Ruins of the Rapicio Castle, perched over the foiba File:HR-IS-Pazin41crop.jpg, Close-up of window frame

References

{{Castles in Croatia Buildings and structures in Istria County Pazin Renaissance castles Castles in Croatia