Veliki Tabor Castle

Veliki Tabor stands on a hill in Zagorje with a late gothic pentagonal core wrapped in four semicircular Renaissance towers, a defensive arrangement built through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by the Rattkay family. The legend attached to it concerns Veronika of Desinic, a commoner said to have married Friedrich of Celje against his father's will and to have been drowned and walled into the castle; a skull found in the wall in the nineteenth century is displayed and was long shown as hers, though there is no evidence connecting it. The castle closed for renovation in 2008 and reopened fully in 2011.

History

Conservation research and the finds show that the oldest part of Veliki Tabor, the pentagonal late Gothic castle at its centre, was built in the middle of the 15th century; its present look dates from the 16th, when the Ráttkay family, who owned it until 1793, built most of what stands - four semicircular Renaissance towers joined by curtain walls, and an outer wall about 225 metres across with a farm office, a bastion, two guardhouses and an entrance tower. In the Middle Ages the castle belonged to Hermann II, Count of Celje, and the legend attached to it tells how his son Frederick fell in love with Veronika, a girl from a poor family; Hermann would not accept her, accused her of witchcraft and had her drowned, her body was said to have been walled up in the castle, and Frederick's revolt against his father ended in his imprisonment. The castle shut for renovation on 6 November 2008 and reopened in November 2011, and since 2002 it has hosted an international festival of short films (Wikipedia, Veliki Tabor Castle).

What to look for

• Four towers around a gothic core - built through the 1400s and 1500s.
• The Veronika legend - a commoner said to have been walled in.
• A skull in the wall - displayed, but not evidenced as hers.
• A long restoration - completed and reopened in 2011.

When to go

April to October; hours reduce in winter. Half a day.

Before you go

The Veronika story is folklore and the castle now says so - visitors expecting a documented tragedy will not find one. Interiors are sparsely furnished. The approach road is narrow and parking is below with a walk up.

Nearby

Kumrovec is south; Trakoscan castle is north-east.

Key facts