Pregrada is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in
Krapina-Zagorje County
Krapina-Zagorje County (, ) is a county in northern Croatia, bordering Slovenia. It encompasses most of the historic region called Hrvatsko Zagorje.
The area contains the excavation site of a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal man in caves near the ...
in
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 ...
. In the 2011 census, there were 6,594 inhabitants in the following settlements:
*
Benkovo, population 326
*
Bregi Kostelski, population 269
*
Bušin, population 139
*
Cigrovec, population 414
*
Donja Plemenšćina, population 138
*
Gabrovec, population 59
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Gorjakovo, population 344
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Gornja Plemenšćina, population 273
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Klenice, population 80
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Kostel, population 137
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Kostelsko, population 244
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Mala Gora, population 169
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Marinec, population 118
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Martiša Ves, population 19
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Pavlovec Pregradski, population 229
* Pregrada, population 1,828
*
Sopot
Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
, population 330
*
Stipernica, population 172
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Svetojurski Vrh, population 166
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Valentinovo, population 163
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Velika Gora, population 86
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Vinagora, population 41
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Višnjevec, population 174
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Vojsak, population 157
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Vrhi Pregradski, population 395
*
Vrhi Vinagorski, population 124
In the 2011 census, the absolute majority were
Croats
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
.
Climate
Since records began in 1992, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 13 August 2003. The coldest temperature was , on 10 February 2005.
History
The name Pregrada is first mentioned on August 9, 1334, in the statutes of the Zagreb Kaptol. The parish is certainly much older because it was listed as the oldest one in the Archdiocese of Zagorje.
How the town got its name is still a matter of dispute. There are two hypotheses about the creation of the name. The first one was given by Gjuro Szabo, a Croatian historian, who interprets that the bed of the river Kosteljina, which passes through the town, was blocked by some kind of partition, and that's how the place got its name (pregrada = en. partition). The second version originates from Maristele Sabljić who says that the owner of Kostel,
Prince George of Brandenburg (Juraj Branderbuški), stationed his defense companies "in front of the city" (cro. pred gradom), on the slopes of Kunagora, and thus the name Pregrada was born. Both versions have their basis, but there is no reliable evidence.
In the Middle Ages Pregrada belonged to the Kostel fief. The first written information about Kostel can be found in the Statutes of the Zagreb
Kaptol. However, the history of Kostel fiefs can be traced back to the arrival of the Counts of Celje, who received the land of Kostel and other properties in
Croatian Zagorje from King Sigismund in 1308. After the death of the last successor of the Celjski family in 1456, Kostel became the property of Ivan Vitovac. As his descendants sided with the German emperor Maximilian, then Croatian-Hungarian ruler
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
(Matija Korvin) confiscated all the properties in Zagorje and gave them to his son John Corvinus (Ivaniš Korvin). Kostel changes its owners again when John's widow
Beatrice Frankopan marries
Prince George of Brandenburg (Juraj Brandeburški) who was the owner of Kostel for a short time. Due to his extravagant lifestyle, the prince had to sell the manor in 1523., which was then bought by Petar Keglević,
ban of Jajce, for 13,000 forints.
The ruins of the fortress of Kostelgrad still stand on a hill of Kunagora above the bend of the river Kosteljina, as a remnant of that period. Kostelgrad is a medieval fortress located north of Pregrada in a strategic position that enabled the control of roads from different sides. Within the outer wall that encircles the city stands out the western tower, which has a large opening for cannons. A story about the time when Petar Keglević, who achieved the greatest honor as a Croatian ban (1537–1542), acquired Kostelgrad says that he armed his subjects and with his guard became the fear and terror of the Styrian and German merchants who came to these parts. Sometimes the acquisition of his estates was at least controversial, so he incurred the wrath of the powerful, even the wrath of King Ferdinand, whom he had previously sided with. Despite all the ups and downs, the family kept its headquarters in Kostelgrad, where Petar died in 1554 and was buried in the parish church in Pregrada. Today's tradition of shooting from a flintlock is connected with Petar and his armed guard. In honor of the Resurrection of Jesus, Petar Keglević sent a sentry to safeguard the tomb of Jesus Christ on the night of Holy Saturday to Easter, and in the morning of Easter after leaving the Church, the Resurrection was celebrated with gunshots. Christ's resurrection falls at the time of the reavival of all nature, when apparent deadness ends and a new life begins, and the people of Pregrada joyfully greet the signs of new life by firing a flintlock.
As the way of life changes, inaccessible towns and burgs are abandoned, and new castles are built in the lowlands. Therefore, at the end of the 17th century, the Keglević family left the Kostel fortress and moved to the Pregrada valley, where they built a castle and stayed there until the end of the 19th century.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Pregrada was a district capital in
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 ...
of the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...
.
Twin towns - twin cities
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Jánoshida –
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
References
External links
Pregrada official sitePregrada.info - Unofficial Pregrada news portal
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Croatia
Populated places in Krapina-Zagorje County
Varaždin County (former)