Posert Castle (Posrt, it, Possert), also known as Šabec (Schabez) and St. Martin, is a ruined fortress near the road between Paz and Šušnjevica, in municipality of

Cerovlje Cerovlje ( it, Cerreto) is a village and a municipality in Istria, Croatia. Description Many ancient towns and decayed castles ( Belaj, Posert, Paz, Gologorica, Gradinje) can be found in its territory. Almost every town or castle in Cerov ...

, in

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

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 ruins of the castle depending on the name are dating back to the 11th century (St. Martin), or 16th century (Šabec), while by archeological evidence to the second half of the 14th century. The castle was vastly devastated in the Uskok War (1615–17). Between 2009 and 2014 the castle was restored. Nearby the castle there is also a small Church of St. Martin from 1367.

History

Until now the castle was considered as the same fortress with different names, of St. Martin, Posert and Šabec, which in several occasions were separately mentioned and built, but that wasn't confirmed by archaeological research. It is still unknown whether they were at the same or different locations. The castle was associated with Castrum Sancti Martini from the 11th century, mentioned in the grant by Ulric II to Aquileia patriarchs. In the second half of 14th century St. Martin belonged to the Pazin county. Its lords were Gutenegg family, and when in 1436 became part of the Moysevich (Moise, Mojsijević) family estate, that area was named Posshart, while suburb as Possert. In the 16th century, Juraj (or Giorgio) Barbo, of the

Barbo family The House of Barbo (later Barbo zu / von Waxenstein ) is an Carniolan noble family of Italian people, Italian origin, active mostly in the territory of present-day Slovenia and in Istria. History The Barbo family originated in Veneto, later m ...

who inherited Moysevich estate and

Kožljak Kožljak (Kozljak, it, Cosliacco, german: Waxenstein) is a village in Istria County, Croatia, in the municipality of Kršan. In 2011, the population of the village is 160. The settlement besides of the village consists of nearby homonymous medi ...

in 1529, allegedly built new fortress Šabec. Between 1614 and 1617, during the Venice-Uskok war, both St. Martin (or Possert) and Šabec area were occupied and destroyed. As Šabec was in ruins and abandoned, Juraj decided to build a new castle Belaj south of it. According to archeological excavations the castle is dated to the second half of the 14th century. This indicates that the castle was possibly built by Counts of Gorizia who were the lords of the area until 1374, or by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

family who inherited their estates.

Description

The castle is of irregular trapezoidal layout with rectangular angle tower. The layout broad side is faced toward north. It consists of center in the northern part, and of external fortified yard in the central and southern part. The guard tower is best preserved. It had five floors, preserved to a height of with irregular layout, long by wide.

References

;Bibliography * *

External links

Belaj
{{Coord, 45, 16, 25.6, N, 14, 6, 12.6, E, display=title Istria Buildings and structures in Istria County Castles in Croatia Ruined castles in Croatia Barbo family