The following is the last, fourth part of interesting stories about Topusko, which our blogger Tomislav Beronić published in the book "Banova vrela pod kraljevskogo gorum". As a reminder, the Virtual guide - ViVoTOP, which is intended for visitors to Topuski and its surroundings, was recently presented.

And Beronic's book is the reward for those who visit all the locations in the guide and scan the codes. After successfully solving the tasks, you can get the book for free at the Topusko Municipality Tourist Board.
///Get to know Topusko - the virtual guide takes you to numerous sights, as well as prizes
Beronić describes the sights of Topuski in an interesting way through the prism of a family that visits them and talks to each other about their impressions. Most of the locations are located in Topuski itself, but also near the remains of the first free royal city of Perna, Petrova Gora and famous springs.

In the first blog Beronić introduced us to the Pauline monastery, the King's tomb and the fortress of Perna, in the second we learned more about the hot springs in and around Topuski, a in the third about Hotel Top Terme, Stone Monument, Nikola's hill and Drašković's cellars.
Sundial
A concrete pillar with a sundial on top that used the Sun's rays and shadows to show the time. It was made in the middle of the 19th century, based on the model of similar clocks that were installed everywhere in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which included Croatia at the time. At that time, it was in the very center of the lives of the inhabitants and visitors of Topuski. Today it stands modestly aside and waits for brighter times. To put it back into operation, it is necessary to carry out restoration and move it to a sunny location.

Lake Ribnjak
The artificial lake Ribnjak is located at the very entrance to Topusko, in the valley between Topličke kos and Nikolina brdo. It is filled with water from the Šeganovac stream and four smaller springs at the bottom of the lake. Its surface is 33.000 square meters, and the depth is up to two meters. The temperature of the spring water is around 20°C, which makes it a suitable habitat for numerous fish and other lake species. In its present form, it was built in the sixties of the 20th century on a swampy area where there was previously a cretaceous plant community, a remnant from the Ice Age.

Park Opatovina
There is a possibility that the Cistercians, along with the arrangement of the monastery, also arranged the park. Today's appearance dates from the middle of the 19th century and coincides with the development of Topuski into a modern health resort, and gardener Franjo Bilek invested the most effort in its decoration. In addition to autochthonous trees, the park also has two species brought from North America, the tulip tree and the gladicia. There used to be a small zoo in the park. In 2006, the park won the second place in terms of arrangement in Croatia. Croatian-Hungarian King Andrija II. at the beginning of the 13th century, he gave privileges to the Cistercians and they settled in the monastery, which was built from 1205 to 1282. As part of the monastery, the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built, measuring 50x24 meters, which is considered the most significant example of Gothic architecture in Croatia.

The Cistercians brought a new form of management, primarily in agriculture, and improved this area. Under the Turkish threat in the 15th and 16th centuries, they retreated from Topusko to safer areas, and the monastery and church experienced an irreversible decline. According to records, the church was still intact in the 18th century, but without a roof. Stone from Opatija was used as a building material until the arrival of Emperor Francis I in 1818, who stopped its further destruction. To this day, only the 23-meter-high stone portal remains of the church and monastery, which was restored at the beginning of the 20th century, and the restoration in modern times began in 1998 and is still ongoing.
English park
It was laid out in the middle of the 19th century on the model of English parks, then common everywhere in Europe. It is characterized by numerous plant species, among which plane trees from the Napoleonic era stand out. A rarity in the park are Ginkgo biloba trees, a species that Charles Darwin said was the only living fossil in the plant world. In the park there used to be Očić's gazebo, a shady corner named after the parish priest Mija Očić, who visited Topusko 46 times as a regular guest of the spa. The music pavilion is located in English Park. In this pavilion, the Austrian military band used to play every Sunday, entertaining passers-by walking through the park.

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Order the book STELLA AUREA – Stories about Frankopans by Tomislav Beronić.
The book is available at PCONNECTORS