CASTLES OF CROATIA 2015 - Erdödy-Rubido Castle - Gornja Rijeka

Erdödy-Rubido Castle - Gornja Rijeka

In the village Gornja Rijeka at the foot of the Kalnik Mountain, northwest from Križevci, there is a tower, which once was a seat belonging to the manor Mali Kalnik with 13 centuries old tradition. The castle was built on the place where an old manor house stood, between 1650 and 1663, by the family Orehoczy. At that time a three-winged castle was built with baroque features and a U-shaped ground plan. The family Orehoczy remained in possession of the manor and the castle until 1730, when through marriage it became possession of the counts from the Keglević family (until 1763), counts Chamaré (until 1818) and then the counts Erdödy. The castle became possession of Sidonija Erdödy, married to the nobleman Rubido, in 1858. After the death of her husband Antun she withdrew from public life and moved to Gornja Rijeka where she lived until her death in 1884. Her son Radoslav Rubido sold the castle in 1898 to his son in law, Sigismund noble Micewski. Already in 1905 the castle is again sold and often changes owners, it is parcelled out and sold to peasants... In the decades after the Second World War, until 1984, elementary school was situated in it. From that time it served no purpose. The attempts to transform it into hotel remained unsuccessful. The noblewoman Sidonija Rubido, born as the countess Erdödy (1819-1884) has marked Croatian history as an ardent supporter of the Croatian National Revival and as the first Croatian opera singer who sang the role of Ljubica in the first Croatian opera Ljubav i zloba (Love and Malice ) by Vatroslav Lisinski and was also the first to sing the popular song from the revival period Još Hrvatska ni propala (Croatia Has Not Yet Fallen) by Ferdo Livadić at the concert in Zagreb (held in Indoor Shooting Range) in 1835. She was depicted by the painter Vlaho Bukovac on the ceremony curtain of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, together with other famous Croats. Sidonija sang in the north tower of the Gornja Rijeka Castle for the first time the song Lijepa naša domovina (Our Beautiful Homeland), accompanied by the composer Josip Runjanin. Academician Mladen Obad Šćitaroci PhD Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci www.scitaroci.hr