Veliki Tabor () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in northwest

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, dating from the middle of 15th century. The castle's present appearance dates back to the 16th century.

History

Most of the castle was built by the Hungarian noble family of Ráttkay, in whose ownership it remained until 1793. It is located in the region of

Zagorje Hrvatsko Zagorje (; Croatian Zagorje; ''zagorje'' is Croatian language, Croatian for 'backland' or 'behind the hills') is a cultural region in northern Croatia, traditionally separated from the country's capital Zagreb by the Medvednica mount ...

near Desinić, west of

Pregrada Pregrada is a town and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. In the 2011 census, there were 6,594 inhabitants in the following settlements: * Benkovo, population 326 * Bregi Kostelski, population 269 * Bušin, population 139 * C ...

, above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It has around . The castle is owned by the state, which manages it as a museum and a tourist site. The results of the conservation research and the analysis of the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

finds indicate that the oldest part of Veliki Tabor was built in middle of 15th century. The oldest part of the fort centre is its central part, the pentagonal castle, whose stylistic characteristics belong to the Late Gothic period. The castle is surrounded by four semi-circular

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

towers connected by curtain walls and the walls of the northern entrance part. The fort centre is surrounded by the outer defence wall (the distance from the easternmost to the westernmost points being about 225 metres) with a farm office, a Renaissance bastion, two semi-circular guardhouses (northern and southern), and the quadrangular entrance tower (present only on the archaeological level) through which the access road ran. Since 2002, Veliki Tabor has been the venue of an international festival of short films. The castle was closed to the public while undergoing renovations beginning 6 November 2008. Those renovations were completed in November 2011. In the Middle Ages, Veliki Tabor belonged to

Hermann II, Count of Celje Hermann II (; early 1360s – 13 October 1435), Count of Celje, was a Styrian prince and magnate, most notable as the faithful supporter and father-in-law of the Hungarian king and Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. Hermann's loyalty t ...

. His son Fridrik fell in love with Veronika, a girl from a poor family. Hermann refused to accept a minor noblewoman as his daughter-in-law. He accused her of witchcraft and had her drowned. Frederick's rebellion against Hermann ended with Frederick's imprisonment. Her body was apparently walled up in Veliki Tabor.

In popular culture

* In 1975 Yugoslav-Croatian movie

Anno Domini 1573 ''Anno Domini 1573'' (, ) is a 1975 Yugoslav/ Croatian feature film directed by Vatroslav Mimica. The film was selected for Directors' Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival in 1976. It is a historical drama film depicting events surround ...

the castle featured Ferenc Tahy's home which gets attacked by his serfs.

Gallery

File:Dvor Veliki Tabor - Hum Košnički 10.jpg, Entrance to the castle. File:Veli Tabor pati interior.JPG, Castle interior

References

External links

Veliki Tabor Castle Tabor Film Festival Medievalwall
{{Authority control Castles in Croatia Museums in Croatia Buildings and structures in Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist attractions in Krapina-Zagorje County Historic sites in Croatia Hrvatsko zagorje

History

In popular culture

Gallery

See also

References

External links