Okic

          My favorite, the most beautiful, most visited... the one and only Okić

Okić, view from NW

If you travel by highway (or by old road)  Zagreb-Karlovac and halfway between Zagreb and Jastrebarsko look towards west, you’ll notice odd looking conical hill, standing there alone, separated from the Plješivica ridge. It’s flat top is not a wonder of nature but work of human hands – these are the ruins of small castle Okić (read: Okich), a seat of famous count Ivan of Okić, and later counts Babonić, Frankopan and Erdödy.

Okić, view from NE

Okić, view from the north

Okić was built at the top of the cave, on a hill 499 m of height, leaving the impression of being coalesced with the rock what makes it one of our most picturesque castles. 

Okić, view from NW

With its superior strategic position, it overlooks wide area – the view from it spans over Posavina (river Sava basin), Pokuplje (river Kupa basin), Zagreb and part of Zagorje county. At clear day, Okić is visible even from the foot of mount Ivanščica, far at north, which made it possible to communicate via fire signals. 

view of Zagreb and Medvednica

view from Okić (Medvednica, Zagorje county and mont Ivanščica far at north)

Due to all that, since long ago it has been a special attraction and frequent target of many hikers and climbers while rocks at the south side of the hill have been popular practice spot of Zagreb’s alpinists. Early as 1843, Dragojla Jarnević (1812-1875) has climbed up to Okić through the rocks what is considered to be the first climb in the history of Croatian alpinism. 

Dragojla Jarnović

In 1978, a mountain hut has been built at the foot of Okić, and few years ago a road that leads to it was paved in full length, what made it even more popular resort.

mountain hut at the foot of Okić

It takes around a 10’ hike from the hut to the castle, by somewhat steep path partly cut into rocks.

the path at the beginning

the first part of the path (before the entrance/gatehouse)

The castle consists of 4 separated parts: entrance part, cistern, chapel and residential area. When approaching the castle, the first thing you reach is, of course, the entrance  (sort of a gatehouse) where a very prolonged, rectangular object stands. It is divided in two parts of which eastern one might have had upper storey. Legend has it that ground floor was in a function of stables and stalls while the upper one served as a guard-tower. 

entrance/gatehouse, western part

entrance/gatehouse, eastern part

We countinue to follow the path which now turns into a very narrow one cut into rocks.

the path between the entrance and residential part

the path between the entrance and residential part

Next structure along the path is a cistern that was misinterpreted in the past as a tower. Unfortunately, even nowadays this mistake appears in some articles when authors don’t consult newer and more detailed literature. The cistern is, with its western part, almost completely cut into the slope of the hill. At the top, remains of a promenade surrounded by a wall are still visible – besides from grabbing the water, it could also be used as a guarding spot for additional supervision of the entrance.

the cistern

From the cistern, the path continues towards the chapel where it sharply turns left and enters the castle at the approximately same spot where castle gate once stood. 

view of the chapel from the approach path

The chapel itself is a stand-alone building, separated from the rest of the castle, and is built at a small, separated ridge that dictated its irregular shape of prolonged rectangle with a round apse. It was probably built at the end of the Romanesque period (beginning of the 13^th ct. and before the Mongol invasion in 1242).

the chapel (apse) at summertime

the chapel (apse) at wintertime

interior of the chapel (view from the apse) 
and castle's north wall

The residential part of the castle occupies the entire plateau at the top of the hill. The contour of the rock has dictated its prolongated shape. The wall curtain encloses small inner bailey (courtyard) at whose western part a palace is situated (due to its tower-like shape, palace could also serve as a keep).  

palace, north wall, holes for wooden beams (flooring)

palace, north wall

Okić especially stands out among other castles with well preserved Romanesque walls: south and west walls are preserved in full height while the north one is partly preserved. These walls, with thickness of only around 80 cm, are the thinnest among Croatian castles but, after the Mongol invasion, they were thickened up to c160 cm.

Romanesque south wall (courtyard side)

south wall, outer side

Okić stands in company of a very few castles in continental Croatia that were mentioned before the 13^th ct. The oldest record of its name we find in a 1193 document by which Kalan, the bishop of Pecs, in the name of Hungarian-Croatian rulers the Arpads, issues a muniment which defines that the church of Zagreb and  its bishop Dominic are entitled to receive denary (tax in the amount of 1/10 of an income). Some older authors, e.g. Ivan Kukuljević and Emil Laszowski, speculate that some kind of a fort existed at this location as early as in period of Croatian national rulers (9-11^th ct). 

north wall, eastern part

north wall, western part

The first known possessor of Okić is count Jaroslav of Okić, as recorded in 1217 document. At that time, Okić estate reaches the area of Blato by the banks of Sava (SW edge of Zagreb, between quarter Lanište and highway entrance Lučko). His son Ivan (John) gained fame in 1242 during the Mongol invasion and in 1251 was rewarded by the king with a land to build a castle (Lipovec near Samobor) for the future protection of the area. Ivan has also defeated Czech king Otokar and recaptured castle Samobor which, at that moment and by a decision of king Ladislav IV, has passed into his possession. At the beginning of the 14^th ct. Ivan II of Okić is mentioned and he was, according to historical documents, a son of Ivan and the last count of Okić. But already in 1293. Okić is in the possession of count Radoslav Babonić. Babonić family loses the castle in the 1^st half of the 14^th ct. when it is in the possession of the king.  In 1416, Okić is purchased by Nikola Krčki Frankopan and this famous family holds it until 1470 when Martin Frankopan gives it away to the king. In 1493 the esate is purchased by noble family Bakač- Erdödy which remains in the possesion of the castle until 1922 and the death of Stjepan. the last of Erdödy. The castle itself was abandoned around the end of the 16^th ct., after the Erdödy have started the construction of renaissance fort in Kerestinec, SW of Zagreb.

SW part of the castle and view of Plješivica

Through centuries, in numerous historical documents, Okić was mentioned under many different name variations: Ochlylich, Ochinz, Achus, Ochus, Okiz, Oklych, Ochlytz, Ochytz… Many discussions have been held concerning the etimology of its name: I. Kukuljević argues that the name “Oklich” derives from the word “oklinak” (cleared area at the top or at the foot of a hill) while Ivan Mažuranić thinks that the name comes from the word “okol” (term for different types of fences) which can also signify military camp so its original name would be “Ok(o)lich”, as it is written in some of the oldest documents.

Okić, wintertime

So, if you find yourself in this part of the world and have some spare time,  do go and visit Okić, and I'm sure you won't regret it. :-)))

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Castle Sused - life in the shadow of castle Medved

Not many cities can boast with the vicinity of two very well preserved castles, the way Zagreb can (and if we would add all castles in the area together with ones of which nothing has remained, the number would be rather large). All of Zagreb’s inhabitants know about castle Medved, but I’m sure many of them have never heard about Sused. Although Medved is closer to city downtown (Jelacic square, to be exact), Sused is much closer to city’s residential area – it is situated above city’s westmost quarter Podsused (coming from the north, from the last house to the entrance into the castle takes no more than 2-minute walk while from the south, from the center of Podused, it can be reached by a 10-minute walk through the park at the slope of the hill). The castle is built at the top of a steep hill, at a favorable strategic point, not far from a confluence of rivers Krapina and Sava, and it controls both land and river traffic routes.

Ivan Standl: castle Sused (1869/1870)

Although situated in the capital’s suburbs, somehow it has always been and has remained in the shadow of castle Medved. Maybe cause it isn’t seen from the town the way Medved is so it doesn’t “catch the eye”, it doesn’t attract people, doesn’t “call” them. The castle can be seen when driving on highway towards/from Krapina, but most of the time the abundant vegetation screens the view to its walls. So many pass by, looking at wooded hill, not knowing that it holds secrets of the past, old walls of a castle. 

view of the castle from the East (from the other side of the moat)

Considering the vicinity of residential area and very good public transport connection with the rest of the city (train, bus) and accessibility by car, it is a real shame that Sused doesn’t have more visitors.

view of the castle from the East (closer look)

If one day you’ll find yourself in Zagreb and decide to visit this “accessible” castle, at the plateau on the top of the hill you’ll be greeted by a set of well preserved walls. Coming from the Podsused, through the park, the first thing you’ll reach is the moat that surrounds the castle from the south, SW and SE while on the north side is a natural steep slope. 

moat

view of the castle from SW

Crossing the moat, you enter the outer bailey which is the new part of the castle, built in the 16^th ct. Not much of walls if preserved here and you can hardly tell apart any structures but we know this part was surrounded by outer curtain wall which was strengthened at the SW side by a round tower next to which might have been the main entrance to the castle. 

part of the outer bailey, view from the SE

West curtain wall

But, if you pass through the door at the south wall into the residential (older) part of the castle, you’ll see another picture as the walls are much better preserved here. 

view of the old part (and the entrance) from the South

Passing through the door will take you into the small inner bailey (courtyard) with a well. 

well

It is enclosed by buildings which ground floor rooms have been workshops while the 1^st floor was residential. 

remains of buildings enclosing the courtyard with a well

If you look closer, at the north part of the castle you’ll notice two doors with preserved stone doorposts. 

doorpost

doorpost

The castle has had a chapel, separated from the palace. Its exact location is not know: it might have been situated in the rectangular structure (interpreted as a tower) at the NE corner of the castle. This is corroborated by the find of chapel’s portal lunette, with the “Imago Pietatis” motif, that was found near the “tower”. This motif came into use during the 13^th ct. and was especially common during the renaissance period (the 15-16^th ct.).

"Imago Pietatis" lunette; Croatian History Museum

The exact moment of the erection of the castle is not know. It is supposed it was build by a king Karl Robert of Anjou (1301-1342) at the beginning of his reign. In historical documents, it was mentioned for the first time in 1316. But there is a possibility an earlier wooden fort existed at this location before the 14^th ct. Archaeological finds from the 9^th ct., found in the vicinity of the castle, confirm the continuity of the site although the excavations haven’t explicitly proven the existence of an older fort. But in favor of its existence goes the location of the castle – its position at height of only 194 m is more “premongol” than “postmongol” (in Croatian it means before and after the Mongol invasion in 1242) as “postmongol” castles are regularly built at higher altitudes due to the fear of their builders (we can say they have followed the rule: higher = safer = better :-) ). And this position is definitely not very high and not extremely well protected by the nature itself.

remains of west curtain wall with a loophole

remains of walls in the north part of castle

Ferenc Tahy's tombstone

After the castle was built, it remained in the possession of the king until 1345. when the owner became Nicholas of Gornja Stubica from the Toth family which owns the castle, together with castle Stubica, till 1439. At that time, due to the marriage, it passes into the hands of Henning family. The Henings remain in the possession of the estate till 1409. when the family became extinct in the male lineage. In 1534, the king gives away the estate to Zagreb’s bishop Simon Erdödy, but the descendants of the Hennings demand their rights. From that moment onwards, the castle passes from one hand to another until, in 1559, the owner of one half of the estate becomes Andrew Henning Teuffenbach. After his death, the estate passes into the hands of Andrew Bathory and the descendants of the Henning family: Ursula Maknicer and Ambros Gregorijan. Bathory sells his part of the Susedgrad-Stubica estate to Ferenc Tahy while the Hennings want it all for themselves and such division of the estate has caused the peasant revolt in 1573. lead by Matija Gubec. After the revolt was suppressed, Ursula Maknicer and Ambros Gregorijan came again into the possession of the estate.

Castle Sused was abandoned at the beginning of the 17^th ct: according to one theory, it has burnt down, according to the other, it hasn’t … and its real destiny might be reveled by some future excavations.

Later, the estate often passes from one proprietor to another and, at one moment, its owners are noble family Sermage who hold the title “de Szomszedvar” (of Sused).

And now, when we know what we are talking about, it’s time for some critics :-)

It’s a real disgrace, outrage how seldom the castle is cleaned of vegetation. Once I have brought a friend from Europe to see the castle and when we got there, I wanted to die of shame! Due to the overgrown vegetation, it wasn’t possible to enter the castle. The grass and bushes were almost over our heads so, who likes it, be my guest, but us, no thanks! I don’t even want to imagine the number of ticks and other beasts that were waiting for a “fresh meat” to show up. Authorities should put to work their employees who cut tree branches and mow lawns to do more working and less goofing off, or in other words: to work more than five minutes after which they sleep at least 30 minutes in their little tractors (and I’m not telling stories here, these are the facts I’ve eye witnessed many times). It should be the other way around: they should work for 2-3 hours and then take a 5/10-minute rest. And then, how could we expect for more people to visit Sused when they can’t even walk about the place they came to see. So typically Croatian.

And the state of the walls, we shouldn’t discuss it at all. At every step there is a danger of a stone falling onto your head. No warnings anywhere, and the absence of the warning for the well in the courtyard is the funniest part. If you don’t know where it is, and if it’s covered with vegetation, and if you don’t watch your step, you can easily fall into it. It’s not a very deep hole, but it’s enough for you to break your leg – people have broken thousands of legs walking on the normal asphalt roads! But don’t let all this to talk you out of the idea to visit Sused. Go, take a look and see for yourself what we are letting to “rot” in the back yard of our capital.

And at the end we can only wish Sused a brighter future with more maintenance and wall conservation, with more visitors, better representation in Zagreb’s tourist offers and final step out from the shadow of “big brother” Medved.

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Castle Medved

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)

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

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

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)

ss. Philip and James' chapel, view from the SW and NW

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.)

view of the north keep from the south

history:

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

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.)

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:

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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