There is no citizen of Zagreb who hasn’t heard about Medvedgrad. Or who hasn’t seen it, at least from the distance. As it is very close to the city center and easily accessible (access by car), it has been awarded with much more attention and care than most of the other castles. So, Medvedgrad is, together with Trakoscan, the most popular and best known castle in NW Croatia. Here are some facts about it:
-it is situated on the southern slopes of central Medvednica, at the top of the hill Mali Plazur (Little Plazur), at the height of 593 m
-in historical documents it is called Medved and Medevar ; today’s name Medvedgrad is a combination of words Medved (its real name) and grad (city, town, in this case it means castle – therefore, when i write “castle Medved” i leave out the word “grad” at the end as it is unnecessary – the word castle has already defined it as such)
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| view of Medvedgrad from NW |
architecture:
-the castle is composed of the “inner bailey” (the center of the castle - area of residence) and the “outer bailey” which are both surrounded with the inner curtain wall and there is additional outer curtain wall with a ditch that surrounds the castle from 3 sides while on the north is a natural steep slope; the gate on the outer wall is on the NW side
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| entrance to the central part of the castle (inner bailey, area of residence) |
-it’s built of stone and brick
-the “outer bailey” is composed of the courtyard with the (south) keep while the separated “inner bailey” has two palaces, the chapel, (north) keep and storage facilities with workshops
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| east palace (left), west palace (right), south keep (at the back) |
-west palace is bigger than the east one, they’re connected with an arch and decorated with stone plastic
-the ss. Philip and James’ chapel is a small octagonal structure with polygonal apse built in the transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic: the Romanesque details are the portal, rosette and other details while the layout is of Gothic origin (the octagonal layout for the nave and the polygonal for the apse was used for the first time in Croatia exactly on this chapel)
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| ss. Philip and James' chapel, view from the SW and NW |
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| stone decorations: portal (detail), apse, rosette |
-while the south keep has been reconstructed in the 1980s, the north keep is now only preserved to the ground floor level. At first it was a single-standing building while storage facilities were added later (14/15. ct.)
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| view of the north keep from the south |
history:
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| south keep |
-the exact time of construction is not known – it is supposed that Medvedgrad was built after the Mongol invasion in 1242.
-in the literature, Phillippe (de genere Türje), the bishop of Zagreb, is usually stated as the constructor of Medvedgrad but archaeological excavations conducted during 1980s suggest that king Bela IV has started the construction of the castle which he gave up to bishop Phillippe some time later who has finished the job in 1254.
-during the 13th ct. it is owned by the bishop of Zagreb, while during the last decades of the century the owners often change
-1291. the owners are Babonic family
-1328. the castle is seized, in the name of the king, by governor (ban) Mikac
-1398. the king gave it to the Alben family
-1436. Medvedgrad is bought by the Counts of Celje
-1457. after the death of the last Count of Celje, Ulrich II (1456), Medvedgrad fell into the hands of the king Matthias Corvinus (Matei Corvin) and his son John while later, after John’s death, the owner is George of Brandenburg (second husband of John’s widow Beatrice de Frangepan (Frankopan))
-in decades to follow, the changes of ownership are quite common; among the owners we find noble families Zrinski and Erdödy
-the last tenants of Medvedgrad are Ambros Gregorijan and his family who renovated the castle in 1574. but not much later, just before the earthquake in 1590., the family has moved into the new residence in Šestine (today one of Zagreb’s districts)
-1590. the castle is heavily damaged by an earthquake and has never been renovated since. In 1642. it is mentioned as a ruin.
RESTORATION OF MEDVEDGRAD
-in 1979. archaeological excavations together with the conservation and reconstruction of the castle have begun – the ss. Philip and James’ chapel and then the south keep were the first ones that were reconstructed
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| cistern |
-1994. the sculpture “Altar of the homeland” was placed at Medvedgrad (it is dedicated to the fallen Croatian soldiers in the Croatian War of Independence (my humble opinion is that this sculpture, due to its composition of concrete and stone, does not fit well among medieval walls of one castle. This interpolation is definitely not a good one. It seems to me that this sculpture would look much better at some meadow either in the city center, either in park Maksimir or even at the top of mountain Medvednica, but definitely not here. And there are many, many other people who share this thought.)
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| Altar of the homeland |
These days Medvedgrad’s working hours are:
working days: 10:00 – 16:00
weekends: 11:00 – 17:00
Do I have to say that i don’t agree with that? A castle like this one is supposed to be opened until sunset as there are many people who start their ascent after those hours (after THEIR work). It’s (almost) summertime, days are long and people would like to visit Medvedgrad while they hike round the mountain and maybe even watch the sunset from it. With this new invention (until recently, there was no such stupidity as working hours), they’re denied that pleasure.
If you want to climb the south keep and take a look at Zagreb from above, you’ll have to pay 15 kn (2 €). This is also a novelty as the keep has always been closed for visitors (if the visit was allowed to some people or groups, i don’t know).
At the end, I must say a few words about the “information table”. Here it is:
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| click on image for original size |
Don’t expect to find some useful information on it (except the layout which was not made by the author of the text but it is the 1986 situation, after the archaeological excavations). There are some errors (like the common error in Croatia which equates Tatars and Mongols while Tatars were only one part of huge Mongol empire and Mongols all together have invaded these parts of the world or the statement that the chapel is Gothic and not Romanesque-Gothic), the translation is somewhat silly (“guard tower” is actually a keep) and well, more useful stuff can be found anywhere on the internet.
But, anyway, if you find yourself in Zagreb and have some time to spare and a will to hike (if you don’t have a car), it is definitely worth a visit. From the bus station, it will take around 1 hour for the climber to reach the castle. If you have a car, you can either drive all the way up to the castle or park near the restaurant “Šestinski Lagvić” in Šestine and hike for around 45 minutes.
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