The name suggests some older fortification. First indirect reference to the castle is from
1326 when some seller of the smaller estate is mentioned Herbort von Graecz,
ministerial of Spanheim and again later in 1344 and this time as a witness. Castle was supposedly
built shortly before the year 1300 by a knight Majnhard of Turjak. First explicit mentioning
is from 1393 when the castle is refered to as Grecz, schloß and according to other sources
even earlier in 1338 as veste Gretz. Later, in 1466 it is mentioned as castrum Gretz,
in 1476 as schloss Grecz and again in 1488 as geschloss Graecz. In 1475 the castle and
the estate were both bought from last representative of lords of Gradac by main branch of lords of
Turjak. After them other owners are encountered: in 1601 Jurij Lell followed by Janez Ludvik count
Thurn-Valsassina and after him Oton Henrik Valsassina, Janez Baltazar Purgstall in 1629 and
family Gusič in mid 17th century. First among them is Andrej noble Gusič, who was acording to
Majda Smole, probably only a tenant of the estate because no real estate is mentioned in his
probate inventory. But in it we can find Derimatschka, some Turk imprisoned in 1650 in Gradac.
However the ownership of Gradac was at the time the dominion was at least after 1661 owned by
Gusič family who were also awners between 1763 and 1787. At the time the castle is in accompanying text
to Austrian military Ordnance Survey map, marked on section 237, mentioned as noble residence with
a chapel - Der Edelhof nebst einer Capelle.
Gusič family was the owner of the dominion until 1846 when it was bought by founder of Gradac iron foundry
Franc knight Friedau. He was followed by some other owners and the last among them was Šutej, merchant from Zagreb
in 1939. During WWII the castle was a place for VDV officer's school and even transitional hospital during
the last months. Inscription plate located left to the main entrance into the castle is the reminder
of those times.
After the war nationalized building became a place for school for difficult adolescents and after a place for
farming and house keeping school and since 1956 it is a place for apartments. Nowadays the castle is
deserted and some elements can be found in rooms (mostly calendars and posters, also furniture) from
1980s. It looks like at the time residents moved out and nobody has yet cleaned the rooms.
In 1999 Gradac castle was proclaimed as a cultural monument of national importance. In the future
it is planned to make it a tourist attraction.
In the book listed in the sources a desolated but once imposing park is mentioned. Unfortunately at
the time I do not yet have photos of that part of dominion.
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Literature: |
Stopar, Ivan, Dr.: "Grajske stavbe v osrednji Sloveniji - V. Dolenjska (Bela Krajina), Viharnik, Ljubljana, 2007 (ponatis), ISBN 978-961-6057-40-0
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Front of Gradac castle, access to which is possible over the wooden bridge
which proves that once a drawbridge was here
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Nowadays mostly filled-in moat (canal)
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Empire style entrance portal from first decades of 19th century
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Wooden stairs leading us to the floor of northern wing
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Chiseled pillar at the entrance to the courtyard
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View from south to castle courtyard which is open from the left (west) side,
because at the latest reconstruction this wing was removed
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Front of castle portal is decorated with coat-of-arms
of Gušič family who thoroughly reconstructed the castle in first decades of 19th century and modernized its
architectural elements
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Architectural elements from Renaissance era can only be found
on preserved cross-crested vaults in the basement
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View of western part of the castle where the whole west
wing is missing; front and rear side defense turrets integrated into the curtail walls are visible
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View of the castle from south
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Decaying outbuilding on the east
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Portal in northern wall of object
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Prolonged wide outbuilding where a year 1805 is supposedly located
in the apex of one of the portals
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Park is located right behind outbuildings
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View of eastern facade of the castle
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Buttress
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View from floor to castle courtyard
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Most - if not all - of the rooms are deserted
and scattered with old clothing; interior reminds of 1980s and a calendar from 1988 can
be found on one of the walls
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Plants found the way into this room
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Gradac on postcard from befor WW I; »Belokranjski muzej« (Museum of Bela krajina), Metlika
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Castle in Valvasor's »Skicna knjiga« (Sketch book), around 1678; Zagreb,
»Metropolitanska knjižnica« (Metropolitan library)
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