Strmol Castle (, ) is a castle located at the foot of ''Dvorjanski hrib'' ("Mansion Hill") near the villages of Češnjevek, Grad and Dvorje, in the

Municipality of Cerklje na Gorenjskem The Municipality of Cerklje na Gorenjskem (; ) is a municipality in Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Cerklje na Gorenjskem.Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Named after its builders, the Strmol family, it is notable as one of the few castles in Slovenia to retain a Slovene name throughout its history. It is currently a guesthouse and conference site for the government of the Republic of Slovenia.

History

Of the twelve medieval manors in the area of the modern Municipality of Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Strmol Castle is the only one that has survived intact to the present. The castle is first mentioned in the 13th century, though there are no reliable records of its founding. The structure is centered on a towering keep with a late medieval core, taking its present form after renaissance and baroque renovations. The central keep is surrounded by a low, rectangular renaissance defensive wall, fortified with square corner turrets, which once featured a drawbridge over a moat. The interiors are richly furnished with historic furniture and art. In January 1944, the

Partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

abducted and murdered the owners of the castle, Rado Hribar (1901–1944) and Ksenija Gorjup Hribar (1905–1944), in the forest at Mače. The castle was confiscated by the communist government after the war. A demand for restitution of the property was lodged in 1992 and the castle was returned to the heirs in 2004. The bodies of Rado Hribar and Ksenija Gorjup Hribar were found in December 2015 above the village of Mače.

Castle park

The castle is surrounded by a park, established in the late 17th century. It originally encompassed an orchard on the slope below the castle, and four fishponds on the plain below that, with a walking path with benches leading from the castle. The layout has not significantly changed, though only one of the ponds remains. The current arrangement includes an access path, which ascends the slope toward a square walled courtyard behind the castle. The wall is decorated with baroque female figures and

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

s by Angelo PuttaPozzi, originally from the garden of the defunct Zalog (Wartenberg) manor by Moravče, but relocated here in the 1960s along with his

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

statues at the northern entrance steps. On the opposite side of the courtyard, the path descends toward a nearby road. Between the access paths there is an informal park, with an artificial lake and non-native trees.Slovenia.info
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Sources

*''Inventory of Significant Natural Heritage of Slovenia'', Agency for Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage of SR Slovenia, Ljubljana 1988 ("Inventar najpomembnejše naravne dediščine Slovenije, Zavod SR Slovenije za varstvo naravne in kulturne dediščine, Ljubljana 1988")

References

{{Coord, 46, 15, 53.04, N, 14, 28, 44.59, E, type:landmark_region:SI, display=title Castles in Upper Carniola Palaces in Slovenia Cultural monuments of Slovenia