Trakošćan Castle Trakošćan ( also pronounced " Trakostyan " ) is a castle located in northern Croatia ( in the Varaždin 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 . History . The ban of Croatia Ivan Drašković ( or Draskovich ) ( 1550 – 1613 ) was from Trakošćan . Trakošćan 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 . According to a legend , Trakošćan 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 Trakošćan shared the fate of their other burgs and estates that were divided and kept changing owners . In these divisions , Trakošćan was , as a whole , first owned by an army leader by the name of Jan Vitovac , then by Ivaniš 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 Drašković ( 1525 – 1587 ) for services rendered , first personally , and then as family heritage . This was how , in 1584 , the Drašković family finally came into possession of Trakošćan . In the second half of the 18th century , when the building of manors was flourishing in Hrvatsko Zagorje , Trakošćan was abandoned . Neglected , it fell quickly into dilapidation . It was only towards the middle of the 19th century that the family became interested once again in its estate , in the Romanticist spirit of return to nature and family traditions . In this spirit , the deputy marshal Juraj V . Drašković turned the castle into a residential manor - house , while the surrounding park was turned into Romanticist pleasure grounds . The generations that followed were staying at the castle from time to time all the way until 1944 when they were forced to emigrate to Austria . Soon after that , the castle became nationalized . The Museum with collections on permanent display was established in 1953 . The castle is today owned by the Republic of Croatia . The castle itself reveals different phases of building . For several centuries , it used to be a fortification , so that the reconstructions undertaken during that period were functional rather than aesthetic . The facility ' s essential core is a Romanesque fortification consisting of a housing unit , a small fortified yard , and a massive high tower . The fortification ' s good location and its observation tower made it safe and easy to defend . Rapid development of firearms and increasingly threatening Turkish attacks made additional construction and further fortifying urgently necessary . The Drašković family ' s second generation , Ivan II and Petar , added the western tower , which may be seen from the coat - of - arms and the accompanying inscription . On the Great Genealogical Tree , the oldest visual presentation from 1668 , the facility had three floors , and its basic dimensions could already be discerned . Over the next period , several defense facilities were added around it . At the time , it also had the highest number of inhabitants , as may be seen from the Small Genealogical Tree dating back to 1755 . It was in this same century that the outbuildings were erected at the foothills of Trakošćan , and a stone bridge built over the river Bednja . In the 19th century Trakošćan acquired its present appearance . In the 1840 - 1862 period , during one among the first restoration undertakings in the country , the castle was reconstructed in Neo - Gothic style . This not only altered its exterior , but also finally brought to an end its five centuries long fortification purpose . The reconstruction also included the appearance of Romanticist pleasure grounds by Juraj V . Drašković , after the model of English parks . When the dam was built , the valley turned into a large lake . The uniqueness of style characterizing the facility equally includes the interior and its surrounding landscape . Count Drašković sold Klenovnik Castle , the largest castle in Croatia , then also held by the Draskovich Family in order to fund the restorations . After the reconstruction , the castle was still inhabited by several generations of the Drašković family that did some additional constructions and adaptations . It was at the time that the northern tower appeared over the entrance , a large shingle cap added to the top of the tower ( removed in 1961 ) , and a southwestern vaulted terrace added . The end of World War II found Trakošćan in a neglected and dilapidated condition , which is why protective architectural and interior decoration works were immediately undertaken . Over the past few years , the castle has once again been undergoing more thorough reconstruction .