Walks through the abandoned Božjakovina

Hello everyone, this time I'm writing about Božjakovina and is located on the eastern side of the Zagreb area. It consits of a castle, a park and a complex of farm buildings. I have often visited this area and have followed the decline of this estate.

Božjakovina had a turbulent past that is almost forgotten today. It is mentioned in written documents in 1209. under the name "Terra sancti Martini" or "the land of Saint Martin".

At the time, the croatian-hungarian king gove this property to the church knightly order , the Templars, who would hold one a century.

After them, the Jesuts and then secular feudal lords came into possession of Božjakovina. Božjakovina was located along the small river Zelina and there was a fortified castle. The counts Zrinski owned Božjakovina during the freguent turkish attacks and devastation in the 16th century. In year 1591. during a major attack, the Turks captured and burned Božjakovina and other castles in the area. Of the former castle, is nothing remains, only the location along the west bank of the river Zelina. Today's two-winged late baroque manor hause was built by the noble Drašković family at the end of the 18th century. A wooden porch with a balcony above the main entrance was added at the end of 19th century.

There are two entrances to the basement , which is dark and damp. During the unprofessional renovation of the buildings in the 1960s , the original shape of the facade was lost, as it was cleaned of baroque decorations around the windows. On the west side of the facade there is also a rear exit to the former garden, as well as a decorative small balcony.

There are voults on the ground floor of the building and decorative "profilires" on the ceiling on the first floor and some stilistic details of the late baroque remain.

The surrounding farm buildings have been abandoned sunce the early 2000's , as the former agricultural company moved to a new location. Most of the se buildings date from the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.

That's all about Božjakovina for now, see you next time.

Hi friends, see you in my next post drazenp972