Trakošćan Castle

Trakošćan Castle (pronounced [trakɔʃtɕan], Croatian: Dvorac Trakošćan) is a castle located in northern Croatia (in Varaždin County) that dates back to the 13th century (although the first written mention of the toponym "Trakošćan" is dated to 1334).

Trakošćan Castle is considered the best preserved and one of the most beautiful castles in Croatia.

Trakošćan was built in the 13th century within Croatia's northwestern fortification system, as a rather small observation fortress for monitoring the road from Ptuj to Bednja Valley.

According to a legend, Trakošćan was named after another fortification (arx Thacorum) that was alleged to have stood in the same spot back in antiquity. Another source claims that it was named after the knights of Drachenstein who were in control of the region in early Middle Ages.

The toponym was first mentioned in written records in 1334. It is not known who its owners were in the first years of its existence. As of the end of the 14th century, it was owned by the Counts of Celje, who were in charge of all of Zagorje County. The family soon became extinct, and Trakošćan shared the fate of their other burgs and estates that were divided and kept changing owners. In these divisions, Trakošćan was, as a whole, first owned by an army leader by the name of Jan Vitovac, then by Ivaniš Korvin, who gave it to his deputy warden Ivan Gyulay. The family kept the castle throughout three generations, and became extinct in 1566, after which the ownership was taken over by the state.

King Maximilian gave the estate to Juraj Drašković (1525–1587) for services rendered, first personally, and then as family heritage. This was how, in 1584, the Drašković family finally came into possession of Trakošćan.

In the second half of the 18th century, when the building of manors was flourishing in Hrvatsko Zagorje, Trakošćan was abandoned. Neglected, it fell quickly into dilapidation. It was only towards the middle of the 19th century that the family became interested once again in its estate, in the Romanticist spirit of return to nature and family traditions. In this spirit, the deputy marshal Juraj V. Drašković turned the castle into a residential manor-house, while the surrounding park was turned into Romanticist pleasure grounds.

Text adapted from “Trakošćan Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Trakošćan Castle ranks #838 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 60 mapped in Croatia. Founded 1300, it is older than 63% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 5,448 times in the last 60 days, more than 86% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Maribor, 40 km away. See how Croatia compares in the castle statistics.

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