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Castles in Croatia

60 landmarks in the Castlemap atlas — every one mapped with a photo and its story, 55 with sourced founding dates, ranked by Wikipedia coverage and real readership.

The most famous castle in Croatia is Diocletian's Palace, ranked #43 of 7,738 in the world — followed by Walls of Dubrovnik and Klis Fortress.

The Castlemap atlas charts 17 castles, 19 fortresses, 7 palaces & châteaux and 17 ruins in Croatia. They span more than 18 centuries — from Tilurium (founded c. 50) to Palace Modello (1885). Every one is plotted with its photo and story on the interactive castle map of Croatia.

Map of castles in Croatia

On the map they cluster thickest around Zagreb — 23 within a 100 km day trip, then Split (13) and Rijeka (11). The northernmost is Feštetić Castle, the southernmost Sokol Fortress — about 455 km apart.

Planning a visit? Day-trip guides: Castles near Zagreb · Castles near Split · Castles near Rijeka.

By region: Castles in Dalmatia.

See them on the map →

When they were built

Of the 60 landmarks mapped in Croatia, 55 carry a sourced founding date. Most were founded in the 13th century — 14 of them. 35 predate 1500 and 6 were built after 1700.

All 60 castles in Croatia

Diocletian's Palace
Palace & château · 3rd century · #43 worldwide · #1 in Croatia
Diocletian's Palace is an ancient Roman palace and fortress complex in Split, Croatia.
Walls of Dubrovnik
Fortress · 13th century · #336 worldwide · #2 in Croatia
The Walls of Dubrovnik are a series of defensive stone walls surrounding the city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia.
Klis Fortress
Fortress · 9th century · #3 in Croatia
The Klis Fortress is a medieval fortress situated above the village of Klis, near Split, Croatia.
Trakošćan Castle
Castle · 13th century · #4 in Croatia
Trakošćan Castle is a castle located in northern Croatia that dates back to the 13th century.
Lovrijenac
Fortress · #5 in Croatia
Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence Fortress, Italian Fortezza di San Lorenzo, often called "Dubrovnik's Gibraltar", is a fortress and theater outside…
Walls of Ston
Fortress · 14th century · #6 in Croatia
The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls, originally more than 7 kilometres long, that surrounded and protected the city of Ston, in…
St. Nicholas Fortress
Fortress · 16th century · #7 in Croatia
St. Nicholas Fortress is a fortress located at the entrance to St. Anthony Channel, near the town of Šibenik in central Dalmatia, Croatia.
Kamerlengo Castle
Castle · 15th century · #8 in Croatia
Kamerlengo Castle is a castle and fortress in Trogir, Croatia. The castle was built in the mid-15th century by Marin Radoj as part of an expansion…
Sponza Palace
Palace & château · 16th century · #9 in Croatia
The Sponza Palace, also called Divona, is a 16th-century palace in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Eltz Manor
Palace & château · 18th century · #10 in Croatia
Eltz Manor is a Baroque palace in Vukovar, Croatia. The 18th-century manor is the location of the Vukovar City Museum.
Nehaj Fortress
Fortress · 16th century · #11 in Croatia
The Nehaj Fortress is a fortress on the hill Nehaj in the town of Senj, Croatia.
Veliki Tabor Castle
Castle · 15th century · #12 in Croatia
Veliki Tabor is a castle and museum in northwest Croatia, dating from the middle of 15th century.
Medvedgrad
Castle · 13th century · #13 in Croatia
Medvedgrad is a medieval fortified town located about 10 km north of Zagreb, on the south slopes of Medvednica mountain, approximately halfway from…
Knin Fortress
Fortress · 9th century · #14 in Croatia
Knin Fortress is located near the tallest mountain in Croatia, Dinara, and near the source of the river Krka.
Tvrđa
Fortress · 18th century · #15 in Croatia
Tvrđa is the old town of the city of Osijek in Croatia. It is the best-preserved and largest ensemble of Baroque buildings in Croatia and consists of…
Čakovec Castle
Castle · #16 in Croatia
Čakovec Castle or Zrinski Castle is a medieval fortification in the middle of the town of Čakovec, the administrative seat of Međimurje County,…
Trsat Castle
Castle · 13th century · #17 in Croatia
Trsat Castle is a castle in Trsat, Croatia. It is thought that the castle lies at the exact spot of an ancient Illyrian and Roman fortress.
Brod Fortress
Fortress · 18th century · #18 in Croatia
The Fortress of Brod is a fortress in Slavonski Brod, Croatia with significant cultural heritage.
Dubovac Castle
Castle · 13th century · #19 in Croatia
Dubovac Castle is a castle in Karlovac, Croatia. The Dubovac Castle overlooks the city of Karlovac in central Croatia.
Pazin Castle
Castle · 10th century · #20 in Croatia
The Pazin Castle is a medieval fortification built on a solid rock situated in the middle of the town of Pazin, the administrative seat of Istria…
Samobor Castle
Ruin · 13th century · #21 in Croatia
Samobor Castle is a ruined castle atop of Tepec hill in Samobor, Croatia. It lies only a 10-minute walk away from the city centre.
Cetin Castle
Ruin · 14th century · #22 in Croatia
The fortress of Cetin is situated 5 kilometres south of Cetingrad above the village of Podcetin, in Croatia.
Palace Modello
Palace & château · 19th century · #23 in Croatia
Palace Modello is a Baroque Revival building in Rijeka, Croatia. It was built in 1885 on the place of the destroyed and demolished Adamichev theater.
Gvozdansko Castle
Ruin · 15th century · #24 in Croatia
Gvozdansko Castle is a castle in Gvozdansko village, between the towns of Dvor and Glina and not far from Zrin Castle, in Sisak-Moslavina County,…
Ozalj Castle
Castle · 13th century · #25 in Croatia
Ozalj Castle is a castle in the town of Ozalj, Croatia. The Ozalj fortress, located on the stone cliff perched above the Kupa River, is one of the…
Sisak Fortress
Fortress · 16th century · #26 in Croatia
The Sisak Fortress is an early modern lowland fortification built on the bank of the Kupa River before its mouth into the Sava.
Old Town, Varaždin
Palace & château · 16th century · #27 in Croatia
The Old Town, Varaždin, is located in the north-west of Croatia near the centre of the town of Varaždin.
Susedgrad
Ruin · 14th century · #28 in Croatia
Susedgrad Castle, or earlier also only Sused, is a ruined medieval fortress on the far-western hill of mount Medvednica, while also marking the…
Zrin Castle
Ruin · 13th century · #29 in Croatia
Zrin Castle is a ruined castle located in the village of Zrin, south of the town of Sisak in Dvor municipality, central Croatia.
Štefano Castle
Castle · 6th century · #30 in Croatia
Fort St. Michael is a fortress on the island of Ugljan, in northern Dalmatia, Croatia.
Pejačević Castle in Virovitica
Palace & château · 19th century · #31 in Croatia
Pejačević Manor is located in the Virovitica, which nowadays forms a part of the city centre of the city of Virovitica .
Sokolac Castle
Ruin · 14th century · #32 in Croatia
Sokolac is a medieval fortification in Brinje, Croatia. It is named after the Croatian word for falcon, which appears on the town's coat of arms.
Mirabella Fortress
Fortress · 13th century · #33 in Croatia
Mirabella Fortress is a fortress located above town of Omiš in Split-Dalmatia County, in Dalmatia, Croatia.
Sokol Fortress
Fortress · 14th century · #34 in Croatia
Sokol is the name of a medieval fortress located in the village of Dunave in Konavle, Croatia, underneath the eastern slopes of Sniježnica, near the…
Starigrad Fortress
Fortress · 15th century · #35 in Croatia
Starigrad Fortress is a 15th-century fortress located near Omiš in Split-Dalmatia county, in Dalmatia, Croatia.
Feštetić Castle
Castle · 16th century · #36 in Croatia
Feštetić Castle is a castle in Pribislavec, a village next to the town of Čakovec, northern Croatia.
Fort Revelin
Fortress · #37 in Croatia
Fort Revelin – a fort in the complex of fortifications of Dubrovnik, outside the circuit of the town walls.
Opeka Manor
Palace & château · 17th century · #38 in Croatia
Opeka Manor is a castle in the Vinica municipality, Varaždin County, northern Croatia.
Saint John's Fortress
Fortress · #39 in Croatia
Saint John's Fortress is a fort-tower in the eastern corner of the town walls of Dubrovnik.
Tržan Castle in Modruš
Ruin · 9th century · #40 in Croatia
The Tržan Castle is a ruined medieval castle above the village of Modruš in the northern part of historical Lika region, central Croatia.
Prozor Fortress
Fortress · 15th century · #41 in Croatia
Prozor Fortress is a medieval fortress situated in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, in inland Dalmatia, just above the town of Vrlika…
Novi Dvori of Zaprešić
Castle · 17th century · #42 in Croatia
Novi Dvori of Zaprešić, or Novi Dvori of Jelačić, is a feudal estate in the northwestern part of Zaprešić, Croatia.
Tilurium
Castle · 1st century · #43 in Croatia
Tilurium was an ancient settlement and military site located at Gardun above the modern town of Trilj in Croatia.
Ostrovica Fortress (Croatia)
Ruin · 12th century · #44 in Croatia
Ostrovica Fortress is a ruined medieval fortification on a solid rock jutting from the top of the hill above the village of Ostrovica in Zadar…
Old town Đurđevac
Castle · 14th century · #45 in Croatia
Old town Đurđevac was built by the Bishop of Pécs, most probably around 1488.
Ilok Castle
Castle · 14th century · #46 in Croatia
Ilok Castle or Odescalchi Castle overlooks the town of Ilok in eastern Croatia.
Cesargrad
Ruin · 13th century · #47 in Croatia
Cesargrad castle is located about 2.4 km northwest above the town of Klanjec on a ridge of the Cesargradska gora about 509 m high in Krapina-Zagorje…
Kaštel Fortress
Fortress · #48 in Croatia
Kaštel Fortress is a fortress-museum that overlooks the Croatian city of Pula. It houses within it the historical and naval museum of Istria.
Drežnik Castle
Ruin · 12th century · #49 in Croatia
Drežnik Castle is a ruined medieval fortified structure in the village of Drežnik Grad, within the Rakovica municipality, Karlovac County, Republic…
Ružica grad
Ruin · 14th century · #50 in Croatia
Ružica grad is the largest surviving castle complex in Slavonia and one of the largest in Croatia.
Fortress Kostajnica
Fortress · 14th century · #51 in Croatia
Kostajnica Fortress is a castle in Hrvatska Kostajnica, a town in central Croatia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Fortica Fortress in Otočac
Ruin · 17th century · #52 in Croatia
Fortica Fortress is a ruined early modern fortified structure in the town of Otočac, Lika-Senj County, Croatia.
Oršić Castle in Gornja Stubica
Castle · 18th century · #53 in Croatia
Oršić Castle is a baroque castle in the Municipality of Gornja Stubica, Krapina-Zagorje County, northwestern Croatia.
Nutjak
Fortress · 15th century · #54 in Croatia
Fort Nutjak is a late medieval fortress overlooking the canyon of the Cetina River, about 3 km downstream from the town of Trilj, Croatia, where the…
Milengrad
Castle · 13th century · #55 in Croatia
Milengrad is a mediaeval castle 2 kilometres northwest from Zajezda village, in Budinščina municipality, Krapina-Zagorje County, Croatia.
Čačvina Castle
Ruin · 13th century · #56 in Croatia
Fort Čačvina is a medieval fortification, now in ruins, just above the village of Čačvina in modern-day Croatia.
Kamičak Castle
Ruin · 14th century · #57 in Croatia
Kamičak Castle is a ruined medieval fortified structure on a rock at the top of the hill above the Krka River in the Krka National Park, Croatia.
Brštanik
Ruin · 13th century · #58 in Croatia
Brštanik was a medieval town on the left bank of the river Neretva, next to the town of Opuzen, Croatia.
Grižane Castle
Ruin · 13th century · #59 in Croatia
Grižane Castle is a ruined castle and site near Grižane in Vinodol, in the northern part of the Adriatic coast, western Croatia.
Udbina Castle
Ruin · 15th century · #60 in Croatia
Udbina Castle is a ruined medieval fortified structure in the town of Udbina, Lika-Senj County, Croatia.

Frequently asked questions

How many castles are in Croatia?

The Castlemap atlas maps 60 landmarks (17 castles · 19 fortresses · 7 palaces & châteaux · 17 ruins) in Croatia — a curated selection of well-documented landmarks from Wikidata, not a count of every fortification ever built.

What is the most famous castle in Croatia?

Diocletian's Palace, ranked #43 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's fame ranking, founded in the 3rd century.

What is the oldest castle in Croatia?

The oldest dated landmark in the atlas in Croatia is Tilurium, founded c. 50. Earlier structures may have existed — this is the oldest with a documented founding year.

Where are most of the castles in Croatia?

They cluster thickest around Zagreb — 23 of the atlas's landmarks within 100 km, then Split (13) and Rijeka (11).

Which castles in Croatia are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

Per Wikidata, 4 of the mapped landmarks hold a UNESCO World Heritage designation — inscribed in their own right or as part of an inscribed ensemble: Diocletian's Palace, Walls of Ston, St. Nicholas Fortress, Kamerlengo Castle.

How many castles are there in Croatia?