CASTLES OF CROATIA 2015 - Castle Janković - Daruvar

Castle Janković- Daruvar

The castle of the counts Janković and the thermal spa, once roman spa Aquae Balissae, give Daruvar a special character. After liberation of Slavonia from the Turks the feudal ownership of land was established and in 1763 the manor was bought by the nobleman Antun Janković, whose family remained in its possession and the possession of the castle until 1878. Then the castle becomes possession of the noble family Tüköry, who at the beginning of the 20th century built the castle Dioš at Končanica, in the vicinity of Daruvar. They sold their property to the bank which parcelled it out and sold it to peasants and the castle itself was bought in 1920 by the municipality of Daruvar which housed a secondary school (Gymnasium) in it, until the beginning of the 21st century. The castle has been renewed, but is has not been given a permanent purpose. A baroque castle with the U-shaped ground plan (the so called three-winged castle was built from 1771 to 1777 by Antun Janković. It is considered one of the most valuable and most beautiful baroque castles in Croatia. Julije Janković, who in 1857 was granted the title of count, added to the castle the entrance balcony (altan) in 1870. He was the last male descendent of the family Janković from Daruvar. The Family has not only got merits for the building of the castle and development of the manor but also greatly contributed to economic and cultural development of the Daruvar region. It is her merit that the Daruvar spa was erected and arranged and that the settlement turned from village into town. Originally surrounded on all sides by the park, the castle is situated at the top of the hill wherefrom a view on town and park can be enjoyed. The park originally covered an area of 14 hectares, but today it is significantly smaller. To the greatest sights of the court park belong two gingko trees (male and female free, since gingko is a dioecious plant). Male tree is the tallest and the oldest species of the kind in Croatia with the stem circumference of about seven metres and is therefore protected as a single tree.

Akademik Mladen Obad Šćitaroci Prof. dr. sc. Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci www.scitaroci.hr