TOWERS AND FORTRESSES - TOWER AND FORTRESS VALPOVO, 15TH CENTURY

VALPOVO The town of Valpovo is situated in the north-eastern part of Croatia and its landscape represents one of the most striking lowland areas of Croatia. The origin of the town is usually linked to the settlement of Croatian and German colonists from the times of the rule of the King Ludwig called The German, and the town, as tradition has it, received its name according to the name of one of the newcomers – Wulp. The first known owner of the feudal estate Valpo (Walpo) was the Hungarian nobleman Ivan Suljagić (Solyagy). At the end of the 14th century the Valpovo estate came into the possession of the nobleman Dragović, and in 1404 King Sigismund gave it as a gift to Duke Ivan Morović. Around the year 1410 Ivan Morović erected a strong fortress, the future centre of the Valpovo estate, which survived until the present times, and its main high tower is popularly known amongst the people as the “Turkish tower”. In 1543 Valpovo came under Turkish rule, and since 1687 it was the Viennese Chamber that was their ruler. Starting from 1721 the Valpovo estate was given as a gift to Petar Antun Hilleprand of Prandau. The Hilleprand-Prandau family rebuilt the fortress Valpovo into a castle. The fortress surrounded by moats had a triangular shape with rounded sides. After rebuilding it into a castle, with Late Baroque – Classicist features, it retained its basic characteristics of a medieval fortress. The design of Valpovo from the 17th century clearly shows that by giving it Baroque features there was no great deviation from its original layout arrangement. What was preserved of the late medieval fortress was the cylindrical three-storey tower with the stone staircase, the Gothic door-post and a number of decorative details. From 1885 up to the Second World War the estate was in the possession of the family of the Counts Normann. One of the finest parks in Slavonija and Baranja is also to be found in Valpovo, founded by Baron Josip Prandau. The gardens stretch across the area of some 25 hectares and are one of the most valuable examples of park landscaping architecture in Croatia. It was reshaped in the spirit of Romanticism and Historicism, and belongs to the type of a classical English garden.