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

M. H. (4 months ago)
In this beautiful castle that looks like a small cute mushroom :-) is a museum, a great exhibition and a beautiful view. The surroundings are very nice for a walk.

Pieter Smits (6 months ago)
We enjoyed our visit. The building and views were impressive, with beautiful restoration work. Of course, the love story behind it is a tragic one, ending in a harsh and cruel way.

GORDANA PODVEZANEC BABYLON TRANSLATIONS (8 months ago)
Beautiful, well preserved castle with great history

Janko Sladović (9 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 (11 months ago)
Beautifully restored castle and amazing scenery.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Klearchos Kapoutsis

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The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

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The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.

Veliki Tabor Castle

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