Novi Dvori Castle

Novi dvori Klanječki bb, Klanjec, Novi Dvori Klanječki

Novi Dvori castle was built in a valley, five kilometers to the south of Klanjec by the Croatian vice-roy Toma Erdödy in 1603, at the moment when the damaged and several centuries old medieval town Cesargrad above Klanjec no longer offered satisfactory living conditions to this powerful noble family. Although the castle deteriorated from the beginning of the 20th century, the real misfortune would befall it after WW II. Without an owner, the castle was demolished for building material. Nationalized, without a purpose, it would never be renovated. The castle has recently been returned to the previous owners who might decide to rebuild and redecorate it. In the history of the Klanjec area the castle is famous because the writer and the author of the Croatian national anthem, Antun Mihanović, spent his last days and died there in 1861.