Medvedgrad Castle

One of the best views of Zagreb from Medvednica. Also, the old town is decorated in colorful colors like a fairy tale. It's worth a visit.

The castle was built by the Zagreb bishop Filip († 1272), who was in office from 1247 to 1262.It has had numerous owners throughout its history. Among them were: King Bela IV., Matijaš Korvin, as well as the noble families Zrinski and Drašković.The important poet and humanist Janus Pannonius (Croatian Ivan Česmički) lived and died on March 27, 1472 in the castle.Medvedgrad was largely destroyed by two earthquakes in 1574 and 1590, abandoned by its residents and has not been used since then.First restoration work began in 1973 and has been intensified since 1993 and is still ongoing.In the castle complex there is an early Gothic chapel, which is consecrated to Saints Philip and Jacob (Croatian Kapela sv. Filipa i Jakova). In front of the castle is the "Altar of the Croatian Fatherland" (Croatian Oltar hrvatske Domovine), a memorial dedicated to the war victims and fallen in the Croatian War of Independence from 1991 to 1995.

A beautiful place with a wonderful view of Zagreb. The fact that it is within reach of such a big city, I expected crowds of people. It was even more of a surprise that we were actually almost alone at the castle.