Udbina Castle

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Udbina Castle
Udbina,
Lika-Senj County, Croatia
Tvrđava Udbina.3.jpg
Remains of the ruined castle
Udbina Castle is located in Croatia
Udbina Castle
Udbina Castle
Coordinates44°31′59″N 15°46′04″E / 44.53310°N 15.76780°E / 44.53310; 15.76780
TypeHilltop castle
Site information
Controlled byKurjaković family
(until 1527) Kurjaković armor from Wiener handschrift.jpg,
Ottoman Empire
(1527-1689) Ottoman Flag.svg,
Karlovac Generalate
of the Croatian Military Frontier
(from 1689) Siegelmarke K.u.K. Infanteriekadettenschule in Karlstadt W0317095.jpg
Conditionruins
Site history
Built14th century (?)
Built byKurjaković family
Materialsrough-hewn stone

Udbina Castle (Croatian: Utvrda Udbina)[1] is a ruined medieval fortified structure in the town of Udbina, Lika-Senj County, Croatia. Built on the top of a hill at the northern end of the town, it overlooks a large part of the Krbava field, just above the place where the fierce and bloody battle of Krbava between the army of the Kingdom of Croatia and the Ottoman Empire was fought in 1493. Once property of the powerful Kurjaković noble family,[2] the castle was captured by the Ottoman invaders in 1527. It was recaptured in 1689, but later, by the end of the Ottoman wars during the 19th century, uncared-for and slowly turned into ruin.

History[]

Castle was first mentioned in 1364[3] in medieval documents as the name of a land district. Built from the cut stone, it was a firm stronghold of Croatian military forces to fight against incomming Ottoman danger in the 15th century. At the time of the battle of Krbava, it was owned by the Kurjaković family, Knezes (Princes) of Krbava (Corbavia). Before the battle itself, Karlo Kurjaković, a distinguished Croatian nobleman, who possessed a large part of Lika, including Udbina, suddenly died,[4] leaving his wife Dorotea Kurjaković née Frankopan and his little son, Ivan (* 1485; † 1531), future Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia (who ruled 1521–1524 and 1527–1531) and the last male member of the Kurjaković family, in the castle. Both of them watched and witnessed the course of the battle in the field below the castle, without intervening. The castle wasn't involved in the battle at all, since the winning Ottomans left further for Bosnia, taking hostages and loot with them.

It was only in 1527 that the castle fell into the Ottoman hands and became their stronghold. They expanded and strengthened the castle so that it was difficult to conquer. However, Udbina was freed in 1689 by siege,[5] (following the lack of water in it, which finally led Turks to surrender) and returned to Croatia. The Ottoman forces withdrew to Bosnia and the whole area, including the Udbina Castle, became part of the Croatian Military Frontier. In the course of the 19th century the castle was subject to slow but continuing ruination.[6]

Architecture[]

Archaeological research has shown that there were several phases in the construction or reconstruction of the castle. In the middle of it there was a bergfried or donjon, a round and tall defensive tower.[7] There is not much left of the walls of the bergfried, built of roughly carved stone. Recent excavations have shown that it was a rather spacious tower, having inner diameter close to about 7 metres, wall thickness ranging from 2–2,4 m and total diameter reaching approximately over 11 metres.

The ground plan of the castle shows that in the middle of the castle, around the tower, the three thick walls were built, which seem to correspond to the bastionic way of building to resist the fiery weapons, certainly in combination with earthen embankments. The remaining walls were thin and obviously more a fence than a serious obstacle to artillery. At the bottom, the castle was more open, which may have been due to an inaccessible slope and the impossibility of attacking from that side.

During the excavations, larger quantities of ceramics, iron and glass objects and, burnt wooden beams as well as two stone cannonballs were found. All that shows a continuity of life and the importance of Udbina, especially in the military-strategic sense, which lasted during the Ottoman rule, as well as later, during the Croatian Military Frontier period.

Gallery[]

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Ruins of the bergfried of the castle

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Remains of outer walls

centar

View to the Krbava field

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Battle of Krbava - A Historical Overview" (PDF). Hungarian Historical Review 4, no. 2 (2015): 283-313. 2021-09-02.
  2. ^ "Otvorena izložba "Gradina Udbina"". Lika Museum. 2021-09-02.
  3. ^ "Udbina - gradina". Lika Museum. 2021-09-02.
  4. ^ "Bernardin Frankopan and the Battle of Krbava: did he save himself and the few or did he escape the battle?". The Croatian Institute of History. 2021-09-02.
  5. ^ "Life in „Turkish" Lika". Lika Club. 2021-08-25.
  6. ^ "About fortresses in Lika" (PDF). Građevinar Magazine. 2021-08-25.
  7. ^ "About fortresses in Lika" (PDF). Građevinar Magazine. 2021-08-25.
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