Stari grad castle

The white castle behind its moat, begun in the 14th century, today the city museum.

Sight

Photo: Ex13 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Why it is worth your time

The Stari grad of Varazdin is the best-preserved late medieval stronghold of continental Croatia and the city's symbol: a white fortress with a defensive moat and earthen bastions, which from the 14th century developed from a feudal tower into a Renaissance fortress of the water-castle type, adapted to cannon. The greatest changes were brought by the Erdody family, who held the castle for four centuries and turned it into a residence with an arcaded courtyard on three levels, one of the loveliest in the country's north.

Today the fortress holds the Varazdin City Museum with a display across the centuries: arms, furniture, clocks, ceramics, guild objects and rooms arranged by epoch, from Gothic to Biedermeier. The visit takes an hour and a half, and the courtyard is open without a ticket. Around the fortress spreads a park with the moat turned into lawn, a favourite place for a walk. In summer the courtyard hosts concerts of the Spancirfest and the Varazdin Baroque Evenings.