Klenovnik is the biggest

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 ...

n castle. It is situated in Klenovnik,

Varaždin County Varaždin County () is a county in Hrvatsko Zagorje. It is named after its county seat, the city of Varaždin. Geography The county contains the city of Varaždin, the towns of: Ivanec, Ludbreg, Lepoglava, Novi Marof and Varaždinske Top ...

History

First mentioning of the castle dates back in the 13th century when the Hungarian-Croatian king

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá may refer to: Places in the Cze ...

takes it away from Pochun and gives it to then ruler of town

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. In the late 17th century, king Maksimilijan sells this castle for 20 000 forint to Croatian nobleman Gašpar I Drašković (1530-1591). In the 19th century, Count Drašković sold Klenovnik in order to gain money for the restoration of his other family castle,

Trakošćan Trakošćan may refer to: * Trakošćan Castle, a medieval castle in northern Croatia, an estate of the Drašković family * Lake Trakošćan, a lake around the castle * Trakošćan, Varaždin County, the village near the castle {{disambig ...

. Klenovnik was bought by then Austrian minister of finance, Karl Ludwig, Baron von Bruck. His family later sold the castle which, since then, changes its owners regularly. The last private owner was Count Joseph von

Bombelles The Bombelles family is an old aristocratic family which originated from the Duchy of Lorraine. Members of the family later settled in the Holy Roman Empire and in Portugal. They held the title of Marquis in France and Count in Austria. Notable ...

(1894-1942), the son of Count Markus Bombelles (1858-1912), a

Drašković family The House of Drašković (English: ''Draskovich''), is a prominent Croatian noble family, supposedly descended from an old Croatian noble tribe of Kršelac, Stupić or Poletčić, while others considered the Mogorović family but it is less lik ...

descendant, by his first wife, Altgräfin Marie zu Salm-Reifferscheid-Raitz (1859-1897). He bought the castle in 1922, but sold it already in 1925.https://klenovnik.hr/povijest/ Today, the castle is owned by city of Zagreb and it has become a hospital for patients with tuberculosis. Before its renovation in 1925, Klenovnik supposedly had 90 rooms and over 365 windows. The castle has a huge and beautiful park, stunning wall paintings from the 19th century, three baroque altars, pulpit and a Drašković family vault.

References

Castles in Croatia {{Croatia-castle-stub