Zaprice Castle ( sl, grad Zaprice, german: Schloss Steinbüchel) is a castle in Zaprice, now part of the town of

Kamnik Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The castle was first indirectly mentioned in 1306, was originally built in the 14th century by the Dienger von Apecz family. It was rebuilt in the early 16th century by Jurij Lamberg, who gave it corner

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

s and surrounded it with a wall with two towers, and gave it a German name: ''Steinbüchel''. The castle is subsequently remembered as a meeting place for Kamnik's

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. During the 17th and 18th century the castle was rebuilt in Baroque style and enlarged into a more comfortable residential building. Today, the castle serves as a museum and a venue for cultural and educational events.

Background

The castle has repeatedly changed owners; the last private proprietors were the Rechbachs until 1945, when it was nationalised and transformed into multi-residential building. Soon after, the castle became the museum's headquarters and it was renovated in the following years. The castle is surrounded by a terraced park and a wall, a dairy farm at the entrance of the complex, two pavilions, a late Gothic sign, and an open-air museum of granaries from the

Tuhinj Valley The Tuhinj Valley (; sl, Tuhinjska dolina) is a valley in Slovenia linking the Celje Basin with the Ljubljana Basin in an east-west direction along the courses of the Nevljica and Motnišnica rivers. Geography The western part of the valley w ...

. There is also an archaeological site on the east side of the castle, where the foundation of an apsidal wall, a bronze fibula, and a few fragments of an ancient glass were found.

Museum collections

The Kamnik Intermunicipal Museum was opened in the castle in 1961. The castle's salon was renovated in 1997 and serves as a venue for openings, lectures, concerts, and symposia. As of 2011, the museum had five main collections: * Archaeology collection * Ethnological collection * Culture-Historical collection * History of art collection * History collection Notable exhibitions in the main castle building include a display of Thonet bentwood furniture, a display about the 19th-century middle classes of Kamnik, a display of the pastoral heritage of the

Big Pasture Plateau The Big Pasture Plateau ( sl, Velika planina} ) is a karstified mountain plateau in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps northeast of Kamnik, Slovenia. It measures and has an average elevation of above sea level. Its highest point is Mount Gradišče, ...

(), and a

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...

collection. An object of special interest is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

portative organ built by Marko Göbl and Johann Georg Eisl, both from Ljubljana, in 1743.

References

External links

Kamnik Intermunicipal Museum website

Zaprice castle
on Castles of Slovenia - gradovi.net

on Virtual Guide to Slovene Museums and Galleries

on Virtual Guide to Slovene Museums and Galleries {{coord, 46, 13, 22.99, N, 14, 36, 20.85, E, type:landmark_region:SI, display=title Castles in Upper Carniola Kamnik