Trakoscan Castle (Trakostyan) - Varazdin County, Croatia

TRAKOSCAN CASTLE (TRAKOSTYAN) - VARAZDIN COUNTY, CROATIA

Trakoscan Castle (also pronounced Trakostyan) is a castle located in northern Croatia (in the Varazdin County) that dates back to the 13th century (first written mention is in 1334). It has been meticulously maintained and is currently one of the best preserved historic buildings in the country.


Flying over Trakoscan Castle, Croatia


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The ban of Croatia Ivan Draskovic (or Draskovich) (1550–1613) was from Trakoscan.

Trakoscan was built in the 13th century within Croatia's northwestern fortification system, as a rather small observation fortress for monitoring the road from Ptuj to Bednja Valley.

Dvorac Trakoscan Castle


According to a legend, Trakoscan was named after another fortification (arx Thacorum) that was alleged to have stood in the same spot back in antiquity. Another source claims that it was named after the knights of Drachenstein who were in control of the region in early Middle Ages.



The toponym was first mentioned in written records in 1334. It is not known who its owners were in the first years of its existence. As of the end of the 14th century, it was owned by the Counts of Celje, who were in charge of the entire Zagorje County. The family soon became extinct, and Trakoscan shared the fate of their other burgs and estates that were divided and kept changing owners. In these divisions, Trakoscan was, as a whole, first owned by an army leader by the name of Jan Vitovac, then by Ivanis Korvin, who gave it to his deputy warden Ivan Gyulay. The family kept the castle throughout three generations, and became extinct in 1566, after which the ownership was taken over by the state.



King Maximilian gave the estate to Juraj Draskovic (1525–1587) for services rendered, first personally, and then as family heritage. This was how, in 1584, the Draskovic family finally came into possession of Trakoscan. In the second half of the 18th century, when the building of... Wikipedia (english)

Oficial website Trakoscan

Photo via: Like Croatia