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28. April 2023.

Medieval Slunj – Stories from the town and the surrounding area

Author: Tomislav Beranić

The town of Slunj and its immediate surroundings have four very interesting historic fortresses, which are not open for visitors for now, but that does not lessen their intrigue.

 

FRANKOPAN FORTRESS IN SLUNJ – One Step Away from the Old Glory

It is very likely that the fortress above the river Slunjčica was built or at least its construction started during the time of count Ivan V of Krk, the father of the famous count Nikola IV of Krk, who was the first to bear the name Frankopan. Count Ivan acquired properties Slunj, Cetin, Klokoč and some others as a reward from king Sigismund of Luxembourg for freeing from captivity the young queen Mary of Anjou. Queen Mary and her mother Elizabeth of Bosnia were imprisoned in 1387 by disgruntled nobles led by Prior of Vrana John of Palisna with the support of the Bosnian king Tvrtko I of Bosnia. Count Ivan of Krk answered the call of king Sigismund, raised a big army and lay siege on Novigrad near Zadar, where queen Mary and her mother were being held prisoner. By all accounts, no great battles were fought. An absolute siege was enough for the Prior of Vrana to realise the hopelessness of his situation and agree to free the queen in exchange for free passage to Bosnia.

Thus, Slunj came to the possession of counts of Krk, who were later called Frankopan, and remained in their possession for the next 200 years. Truth be told, the Frankopan family nominally pledged the town and property Slunj to counts Zrinski, even though they did not give it up, which led to open conflict between the two families.

Prince Francis Frankopan of Slunj, Croatian viceroy and a tireless fighter against the Turks, was the person who brought great glory to Slunj. Count Francis was the son of count George III Frankopan and Ana Babonić, princess of Blagaj. Disgruntled by the politics of the Viennese Court and against the will of king Maximillian, count Francis, alongside Nikola VIII Frankopan of Tržac, Juraj IV Zrinski and other Croatian nobles, led a military campaign against Turkish Croatia, area on the other side of the river Una in September of 1570. This campaign assured the stability of Hrastovica and other areas which were under the constant threat of the Turks.

As the last one of the Slunj line, count Francis died without descendants from the consequences of a badly carried out surgery on the road to Moravska, where he was supposed to marry baroness Judit Kereczeny, daughter of Baron Ladislav, one of the richest Hungarian military leaders.

Here, alongside these few lines about the Frankopan history of Slunj, I leave you to enjoy the Slunj fortress, which will soon regain some of its old glory if the restoration continues in this pace.

FURJAN FORTRESS – Originally Belonging to the Frankopan Family

The Furjan fortress is mentioned as a Frankopan property in the medieval Drežnica County that belongs to the Tržac castle ten kilometres away on the right side of the Korana river. The longest-lived branch of the family, to which the last Fran Krsto belonged, is also named after the Tržac castle. Count Ivan V of Krk received Drežnica County at the end of the 14th century as a reward from king Sigismund for freeing the Croatian-Hungarian queen Elizabeth from captivity in Novigrad near Zadar.

The first of the Tržac line of counts Frankopan was Bartol IX, grandson of Ivan V and son of Nikola IV. In fact, in the year of 1499 – which was 17 years after the death of count Nikola IV and 13 years after the death of his eldest son Ivan VI, who, according to the customary family law, was the family patriarch – eight brothers divided the Frankopan County amongst themselves. Bartol IX got Bihać, Brinje, Jelovik and some smaller properties in addition to Tržac.

Count Bartol was married to the German countess Elizabeth von Wallsee and had five children with her; sons Ivan VIII and Nikola VI and daughters Barbara, Jelena and Doroteja. According to the records, count Bartol IX was buried in Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brinje, “right next to the altar”.

The Frankopan family did not reside in Furjan. The fortress was mainly used for military purposes, contributions in kind were collected there and in case of a threat, local vassals sought shelter there. No historic clues were found on when Furjan was built, but it is certain that it played a role in the defence system from Bihać to Slunj and to Cetin, which belonged to count George Frankopan, son of count Ivan VI, nephew of Bartol.

The Furjan fortress was built on the crest of a hill above the spring Jezerce. It is approximately elliptical in shape (actually, it has seven relatively straight walls and one large tower at the extreme eastern part), around 40 metres long, not more than 30 metres wide. All these measures are approximate. A possible entrance to the fortress had been at the western side, where the opening for the entrance door, no more than one meter wide, can still be seen. It is also possible that the entrance to the fortress had been on the south-western side, up the stairs and over the defensive wall. On the eastern side of the walls, left of the large tower, embrasures can still be seen. There were probably some on the western side as well, but the wall has been torn down and we can only guess that. In any case, the eastern side was the one made for withstanding a military attack. The terrain configuration was also in the favour of the defenders. In front of the tower towards east, the access path is significantly narrowed, which denied the attackers, coming from the eastern elevation, the possibility of a wide attack. Thus, even though the fortress was on a low level, it was difficult to conquer without the use of bombards.

There is no data of the fortress falling into Turkish hands while the Frankopan family ruled over it, but there are folk legends that the fortress was named Sokolac in honour of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and that the Turkish army ruled over it for some time. At the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, it was returned to the County administration with the prowess of castellan Mile Matanić.

Unfortunately, the Furjan fortress in unavailable for visitors and there is no significant effort to make it available. The inside of the fortress is so overgrown that it is difficult to spot the walls even during the time of no vegetation. The large tower is only accessible via a ladder and it only reaches the second floor, which might be a good thing because someone might get hurt otherwise.

If you are coming from Karlovac, when you have passed the Korana bridge, make a left and you will see a signpost for Furjan. Drive along a winding road. You will pass the Napoleon Warehouse and the Frankopan fortress in Slunj. Then just keep to the main road and you will reach Donji Furjan. Follow the signpost for Gornji Furjan and keep to the main road as if you were headed for the state road D1 Slunj-Plitvice. After passing the village, you will see a Y crossroads, make a left there to a forest path and drive for another 800 metres. You will see the large tower of the fortress on your left while driving, keep driving to an opening on the left where you can leave your car. From that place, there is a 350 metres long path leading to the fortress.

 

KREMEN – Two Times in the Hands of the Frankopan Family

The Kremen fortress, located on the hillcrest above the river Korana and a plain called Logorište, which bears its name meaning Campsite because in the time of knights, armies raised their camps there for the purposes of gathering and preparing for battle, was in the hands of the Frankopan family twice. The first time was in 1442 when Stjepan III Frankopan of Modruš bought the fortress for a thousand florins from Ilka, daughter of Blaž Kapetanić, who had inherited the estate from her late husband Domša Ladihović. The Ladihović tribe is considered to be the builders of the Kremen fortress and the residence of their estate was in the fortress. Count Stjepan kept the Kremen fortress in his possession until 1454, when he ceded it to a noble Marko of Čava. It is recorded that count Dujam Frankopan of Slunj had his serfs on this estate in 1461 so we can assume that Kremen returned to the possession of the Frankopan family in the meantime and it remained in the family until the death of the Croatian viceroy and count Francis Frankopan of Slunj. Francis’ sister Ana, who was married to count Nikola Oláh-Császár, as her brother’s heir took over his estates and sold Kremen. After that, various nobles wanted to take possession of it, invoking all kinds of rights.

Kremen was badly damaged during the wars with the Turks, even though the Turks partially restored and fortified it, mainly to use it as a stronghold for their attacks against Slunj. But not for long. The Croatian troops conquered it again in 1669, but the fortress was never returned to its former glory and was left to ruin and oblivion.

Today, it is impossible to find Kremen without a map and a good machete, even during the time of no vegetation. However, if you are tenacious enough, come to the village Gornji Kremen and drive to the last houses. Ask the kind house owners to leave your car in their yards and head down the once asphalted road. After about 700 to 800 metres, you will reach a right turn in the road from which you can see the Korana valley and Logorište plain.

The Kremen fortress is on your right, even though you cannot see it. Climb the hillcrest to your right, using machetes and other tools you have brought with you and you will finally see the remains of the fortress.

 

BLAGAJ

You can easily reach Blagaj on Korana or Hrvatski Blagaj, as it is called today, by driving along state road D1 from Karlovac to Slunj. Five kilometres after Veljun, right after a long straight climb, there is a sharp right turn to the local road leading to Blagaj and after 300 metres you will reach the Church of the Holy Spirit.

I will boldly recommend you to leave your car here and continue along the asphalted road on foot and I will tell you why. After 200 metres, make a turn to a macadam road and keep to it. The road zigzags through the forest for another 300 metres and then breaks out of the tree line in front of an old estate, that is a new vacation house. When you see a tree house, which the owner had probably built for his own children, you will know that you are on the right path. The road winds left here and after a couple hundred metres, you will reach the Blagaj fortress.

Along the medieval road on your right, there is the front part of the fortress, but it is overgrown with vegetation. You can actually see it when there is no vegetation, but it is hidden when everything starts to bloom.

De Blagay family belongs to the old Croatian nobility whose famous history goes back to the beginning of the 13th century. The first known member of the family was count Stjepan called Babon and because of him, the family got the name Babonić. They had in their possession property Vodice near today’s Hrvatska Dubica and because of that, they were also often called counts of Vodice. They were considered to be relatives of the patrician family Ursini (Babone-Ursini) so the Latin form of their name Ursinus is often added to their names in the records. They started using the name de Blagay after building the town Blagaj on the river Sana. Some hundred years later, they built this fortress on the river Korana, which got its name Blagaj from them even though it had been called Turanj at first. This fortress was the last line of defence against the fierce battles with the Turks until the end of the 16th century when they left it and moved to Kranjska. The last member of the nobles Babonić de Blagay was duke Ludwig, who died in Ljubljana in 1897.

Their estates shared a border with counts Frankopan of Krk, with whom they were in close family relations and always in good alliances. Seven marriages were recorded between these two families.

Four princesses de Blagay were married to counts Frankopan of Krk:

  • Ursula de Blagay, married around 1290 to count Dujam II of Krk with whom she had two children, Frederick III and Cecilija
  • Doroteja de Blagay, married around 1465 to count Martin II Frankopan with whom she had no children
  • Ana de Blagay, married around 1510 to count George III Frankopan of Slunj with whom she had no children
  • Doroteja de Blagay, married around 1540 to count Nikola VIII Frankopan with whom she had four children, Gašpar, Stjepan V, Klara and Ursula

Three counts de Blagay married princesses Frankopan, all three were called Doroteja:

  • Stjepan de Blagay, married around 1465 princess Doroteja Frankopan, daughter of count Dujam IV
  • Ivan Ursinus de Blagay, married around 1480 princess Doroteja Frankopan, daughter od count George II
  • Stjepan Ursinus de Blagay, married around 1505 princess Doroteja Frankopan, daughter of count Mihovil

That would be all concerning the history of counts Babonić de Blagay.

Let us go back to the ruins of the Blagaj fortress. If you are tenacious enough and bramble and weed resistant, you will manage to find your way into the walls of the ancient rooms and halls. On the northern side, there are a couple of larger openings, which suggest there might have been windows there and the eastern side turned towards the road might have contained the main entrance.

The other part of the fortress complex is 30 metres away and physically separated from the first part by being cut into the bedrock. There is a path leading to the canyon of the river Korana, which leads me to assume that the main entrance to the fort was via a wooden bridge high above the road. The fort too is in bad condition, even though it is still quite impressive, especially the southern part where you can still see a keep that is 15 metres tall or rather deep because it lowers down to the canyon from the level of the fortress.

Using a sketch from a Hungarian website, I made a drawing of the possible appearance of the Blagaj fortress so take that with you when you boldly go visit it. I hope it will be of use to you and inflame your imagination.

Now we have reached the part where I explain why you should park your car over a kilometre away when you can easily come much closer, maybe to a couple hundred metres. The reason is so that your muscles are warmed up if you decide to climb down to the Korana canyon to see the remains of Mravunac Mill because if you try to do that without warming up beforehand, you will surely suffer muscle inflammation.

The first thing that is of particular interest here is the fact that you are walking along a real medieval road, which is still in very good condition. The road has three serpentines and the height difference is about 70 metres. Is it in deep, almost ancient shade. You can maybe see the sun early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Nevertheless, the road is neither particularly wet nor slippery and you will have no troubles climbing down to the river.

And that will be the peak of your excursion, even though, height-wise, you will be at the bottom of it. The canyon is beautiful. You will be amazed by a small sand shore, the likes of which are difficult to find even on the Adriatic Sea coast. Only the stone bearings and a single millstone is what is left of the mill; you can see those upriver. Pay attention to the large edges of the bearings in the water – they are parts of lids of ancient Roman gravestones.

While you are walking back, take a break every once in a while to take another photograph. It will be a perfect excuse for catching your breath. It is a good thing your muscles are warmed up so the climb back will be easy for you.