Trebnje Castle
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Trebnje Castle is a smaller castle located in the
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
n town
Trebnje Trebnje (, ) is a town in southeastern Slovenia. It lies on the Temenica River in the traditional region of Lower Carniola, and is the seat of the Municipality of Trebnje. The area was already settled in Antiquity. The modern settlement develo ...
, positioned on a plateau on the right bank of river
Temenica The Temenica is a river in Slovenia. It is one of the most typical influent streams of Slovenia's karst terrain. Name The name ''Temenica'' comes from the archaic common noun *''temenica'' ' spring' (cf. Polish dialect ''ciemienica'' 'spring', ...
. Sources claim that the castle was built around year 1000, which would make it one of the oldest Slovenian castles. The castle has changed several owners over the years, ranging from local nobility, Habsburgs, and a missionary
Frederic Baraga Irenaeus Frederic Baraga (June 29, 1797 – January 19, 1868; ) was a Slovenian Catholic missionary to the United States, grammarian and author of Christian poetry and hymns in Native American languages. He was the first Bishop of Sault ...
. Today, while the castle's fate remains uncertain, its condition is visibly deteriorating.


History

It is believed that the castle was built around year 1000 by the
Patriarchate of Aquileia The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see and ecclesiastical province in northeastern Italy, originally centered in the ancient city of Aquileia, situated near the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It emerged in the 4th century as a m ...
and managed by their local vassal knights named de Treuen. Records attest that the castle's first vassal was Konrad de Treuen, who was then followed by Bernard, Henrik and Ulrik de Treuen between the years 1243 and 1245. A record from 1349 mentions the knight Hajncel, and Aquileian charters from 1358 refer to the knight Johannis de Treuen as the castle's overseers. First mentions of the castle however date back to 1386 and 1436, and refer to it as Turn ze Treuen and turn zu Trefen mit dem purkchstal vnd dem pawhof, respectively. According to a historian Valvasor, after the decline of knights of Treuen, the castle's ownership first passed to
Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of Ortenburg () were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Franconian House of Sponheim, ...
, and then to
Counts of Celje The Counts of Celje () or the Counts of Cilli (; ) were the most influential late medieval noble dynasty on the territory of present-day Slovenia. Risen as vassals of the Habsburg dukes of Styria in the early 14th century, they ruled the County ...
, who owned the castle until 1456. With the demise of Counts of Celje, the castle was handed over to the
Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
as part of an inheritance agreement. In the Early modern period the castle changed several hands. Written recordings list the following owners: * 1601: Gabrijel Križanič; * 1652: Jurij Jankovič; * 1679: Wolf Konrad Jankovič; * 1685: Matej Kowatschitsch pl. Schmiedhofen, who was a toll collector of provincial tollhouses in Jesenice and imperial tollhouse; * 1699:
Stična Abbey Stična Abbey (, also ; , Latin: ''Sitticum'') is the oldest monastery in Slovenia. It is the only Cistercian order, Cistercian monastery in the country still operating (the other was Kostanjevica Abbey in Kostanjevica na Krki). Its mother house ...
; * 1731: Jankovič family; * 1734: Jožef Mihael pl. Wallensberg; * 1767: Filip Mihael pl. Wallensberg, a son of Jožef Mihael pl. Wallensberg; * 1799: Janez Nepomuk Baraga; * 1812: Frederick Baraga, a missionary and a son of Janez Nepomuk Baraga; * 1824: Jožek Gressel, a brother in law of Frederick Baraga; * 1842: Anamalija Gressel, the wife of Jožek Gressel; * 1869: Karel Gressel, a son of Ana Malija and Jožek Gressel; * 1863: Marija Gressel, a widow after Karel Gressel; * 1896: Matija Hočevar and Franc Hren. The last owner before
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 ...
was a Czech Evgen Evgen Šoulavy, after the war the castle was nationalized. For some time, the castle hosted the Trebnje primary school; later it was turned into social housing. Today, the castle is again in private hands.


Architecture

Historians believe that the castle was initially built as an unfortified tower. Later, in 1530, the tower needed to be significantly fortified because of the threat of Turkish invasions. It was re-made in a massive renaissance four-tract building with three quadrangle and one circular tower. Today, the castle comprises four one-floor living areas that surround rectangular inner courtyard. Three corners of the courtyard are strengthened with towers. One enters the castle through a spacious, arched slit with two baroque portals on the left and the right. The courtyard is enclosed with arcades. The arcades on the left, northern side of the courtyard are hexagonal, supported by load-bearing walls and in the size of the ground floor. A taller set of arcades leads to a staircase that connects the ground floor with the upper floor. Arcades of the eastern area are also
hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...
al and supported by the load-bearing walls. Compared to the load-bearing wall on the northern side, these walls are placed in bigger intervals, causing arches to be pent-in instead of semicircular. Both southern and eastern arcades of the courtyard are walled. Pillars of the arcades are circular. It hasn't been determined yet whether the castle incorporates any construction elements from the Middle Ages. During a probing inspection, researchers found remains of -thick foundation of an unidentified wall south of the wall, and remains of a wide
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
with an adjacent external trench.


References

{{reflist Castles in Slovenia Buildings and structures completed in 1000