Croatia · 9th century
Tržan Castle in Modruš ranks #5,241 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #44 of the 79 mapped in Croatia. Founded c. 900, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 85 atlas entries founded in the 9th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Rijeka, 67 km away. See how Croatia compares in the castle statistics.
The Tržan Castle (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈtr̩̂ʒan]; Croatian: Tržan-grad or Utvrda Tržan) is a ruined medieval castle above the village of Modruš in the northern part of historical Lika region, central Croatia. Before (from the 11th century) the administrative seat of the former Modruš County (later renamed Modruš-Rijeka County), it is today a ruin in the Josipdol Municipality in the southern part of the Karlovac County.
Having been built on a ridge of a steep hill 670 metres (2,200 ft) above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Velika Kapela mountain, the castle was at a strategic place overlooking the road that connected the Adriatic Sea and the Pannonian Basin since ancient times. The road in question connected the Roman towns of Senia (present-day Senj) and Siscia (present-day Sisak). It was later, during the 18th century, reconstructed, improved and renamed as Josephina road.
Text adapted from “Tržan Castle in Modruš” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
View on the interactive castle map →