Veliki Tabor Castle, Hum Košnički, Croatia

Veliki Tabor is a castle and museum in northwest Croatia, dating from the middle of 15th century. The castle's present appearance dates back to the 16th century. Most of the castle was built by the Hungarian noble family of Ráttkay, in whose ownership it remained until 1793.

The oldest part of the fort centre is its central part, the pentagonal castle, whose stylistic characteristics belong to the Late Gothic period. The castle is surrounded by four semi-circular Renaissance towers connected by curtain walls and the walls of the northern entrance part. The fort centre is surrounded by the outer defence wall (the distance from the easternmost to the westernmost points being about 225 metres) with a farm office, a Renaissance bastion, two semi-circular guardhouses (northern and southern), and the quadrangular entrance tower (present only on the archaeological level) through which the access road ran.

In the Middle Ages, Veliki Tabor belonged to Hermann II, Count of Celje. His son Fridrik fell in love with Veronika, a girl from a poor family. Hermann refused to accept a minor noblewoman as his daughter-in-law. He accused her of witchcraft and had her drowned. Frederick's rebellion against Hermann ended with Frederick's imprisonment. Her body was walled up in Veliki Tabor. Veronika’s weeping can still be heard from the castle, according to some stories.

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User Reviews

Janko Sladović (5 months ago)
Very pleasantly surprised by how well it was renovated, a wonderful castle, you can spend an hour walking around. There are some exhibits and informative posters to explain the history of the castle. We visited on a weekend and there were only a handful of people there and it was a really enjoyable experience.

Bella R (7 months ago)
Beautifully restored castle and amazing scenery.

IGOR JAKLIN (15 months ago)
a very well-maintained and beautiful castle, historically connected with the legend of Veronika Deseniška (Counts of Celje)

Ljubica Banic (2 years ago)
Beautiful place on the top of the mountain… the views are fantastic from the tower. You need a car or a lift to arrive to this place but is worth it. The place has many collectible ornaments… is ver well designed so you can enjoy the exhibitions by rooms. I adore the legend of Veronika. You need comfortable shoes if you are walking towards the castle. They have three types of tickets adults, students abs kids. The toilets were impeccable. People working inside were polite.

Jurica Resetar (3 years ago)
One of the best-preserved (renovated) medieval castles in Croatia. This should be a leading example for all the other ruined castles. The whole castle is a museum and there are a lot of panels with written stories about Veronika Desinic, some interesting facts about the Ratkay family, historical artifacts, etc. Unfortunately, I did not take a guided tour so it was a bit boring and too much text to read from all the panels but still it was quite an experience. Honestly, it's not a must-see!

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