Ozalj Castle ( hr, Stari grad Ozalj or ''Gradina Ozalj'') is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the town of

Ozalj Ozalj (, hu, Ozaly, german: Wosail or ''Woseil'') is a town in central Croatia, located north of Karlovac and southwest of Jastrebarsko, on the Kupa River. It is close to Žumberak in the north and the border with Slovenia in the northwest, wi ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The Ozalj fortress, located on the stone cliff perched above the

Kupa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

River, is one of the best-known fortifications of this type in Croatia. It is a very old stronghold (first mentioned in 1244) that has been converted into a castle. The popularity of this castle is because this was the joint castle of the Croatian noble families of

Frankopan The House of Frankopan ( hr, Frankopani, Frankapani, it, Frangipani, hu, Frangepán, la, Frangepanus, Francopanus), was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croati ...

and

Zrinski Zrinski () was a Croatian- Hungarian noble family, a cadet branch of the Croatian noble tribe of Šubić, influential during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe in the Kingdom of Croatia's union with the Kingdom of Hungar ...

. In fact, it was the scene of the ill-fated

Zrinski–Frankopan conspiracy The Magnate conspiracy, also known as the Zrinski-Frankopan Conspiracy ( hr, Zrinsko-frankopanska urota) in Croatia, and Wesselényi conspiracy ( hu, Wesselényi-összeesküvés) in Hungary, was a 17th-century attempt to throw off Habsburg and ...

, which significantly marked the

history of Croatia At the time of the Roman Empire, the area of modern Croatia comprised two Roman provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the ...

. In the castle there is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

and a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, and it is in a relatively good state of repair.

References

* Castles in Croatia Museums in Croatia Frankopan family Zrinski Buildings and structures in Karlovac County Tourist attractions in Karlovac County Castle museums {{Croatia-castle-stub

See also

References