CASTLES OF CROATIA, Erdödy

Erdödy Castle – the Renaissance castle of the Counts Erdödy in Jastrebarsko Erdödy Castle is located on the edge of the historic centre of Jastrebarsko, a village that received the status of a free royal market in the middle of the 13th century. Construction of the castle began sometime between 1483 and 1489 and during the 16th century it was extended and took on the appearance of a Renaissance castle, which has been preserved to this day without major changes, although in poor condition. For centuries, the feudal castle and the royal market lived in coexistence with the strong influence of the noble Erdödy family. The Erdődy counts are a noble family with estates in Hungary, Slavonia and north-western Croatia. They owned the Jastrebarsko manor from 1519 to 1848, until the abolition of serfdom, and the castle was in their possession for four centuries, until 1922. In addition to Jastrebarsko, they also owned large castles such as the Old Town in Varaždin, medieval Cesargrad, Novi Dvori Klanječki (early 17th century), the castle in Popovača and many other smaller manors and manor houses. It is an example of a lowland castle (Wasserburg) that combines residential and fortification purposes, surrounded by water-filled ditches (moats). Such castles were first built in Croatia at the end of the 16th century, more often from the beginning of the 17th century, when medieval noble towns (burgs) on hard-to-reach hills were abandoned and new castles were built in the lowlands that were larger and more comfortable to live in. The floor plan of the castle is in the shape of an irregular square, the so-called a four-winged castle with an inner courtyard and round towers at the corners. Two towers have been preserved, and there are foundations of the other two. The rooms of the castle line up around the courtyard with a corridor towards the courtyard. In the 18th century, Baroque corridors with arches (arcades) were built on the facades of the inner courtyard, without significantly changing the Renaissance concept of the castle. At the end of the 19th century, a park was built around the castle on an area of approximately 10 hectares, which is today a protected horticultural monument. The park has a small lake, a stream and the remains of Renaissance fortification ditches. The castle has been owned by the town of Jastrebarsko since 1936, which bought it to prevent the castle from being dismantled for the sale of building materials. Today, 85 years later, the castle is in a poor condition and in danger of collapse due to decades of lack of maintenance. The town is pinning its hopes on rebuilding the castle with EU funds.