OKIĆ – a never-conquered castle near Samobor

Every day, the eyes of thousands and thousands of travelers are attracted by the conical peak on the edge of Žumberk - Samoborski Gorje, north of the highway Zagreb - Karlovac, on the top of which is the castle of the same name as the peak itself - Okić. I confess, I drove myself countless times, telling myself: "I'll climb there one day". And so one fine day - literally, because it would be a shame to climb a 500-meter high peak with poor visibility - I fulfilled my wish.

On the way back from Zagreb to Karlovac, instead of going to the toll booths in Lučki, I headed in the company of my life partner Biba towards Samobor, and then on parts of the narrow and winding road I followed the signs all the way to the Maks Plotnikov Mountain Lodge. There is the end of the road.

There are several ways to climb to the top. One of them, very demanding, especially without mountaineering equipment, a little over two hundred years ago, a Croatian writer and alpinist, otherwise born From Karlovac, Dragojla Jarnjević, she successfully climbed and that too barefoot. In her honor, as a pioneer of Croatian mountaineering and alpinism, the trail is named - Dragojla's path.

We opted for the new path immediately to the left, marked as easier, and in about ten minutes we reached the outskirts of the medieval fortress. The main entrance and the long building, which probably had three floors, can still be recognized. It is possible that these were outbuildings, such as were found next to most fortifications, while the residential part was on top.

The climb up to that suburb is a walk in the park compared to what follows. Biba commented that she felt like Frodo climbing into Mordor. The path is very narrow, in some places it is good to hold on to the roots or stones, which is almost unbelievable. However, at the end of the climb, there was a reward.

First we encountered a round tower which, according to the attached plan, was probably a water tank, and above it we emerged to the former church, which is no longer known to whom it was dedicated. In that part, the arch above the apse is still preserved, which is no longer there, but at least as a consolation, a beautiful view to the northeast is provided.

In old writings, the Okić fortress is mentioned at the end of the 12th century, and it gained fame because it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Mongols, and then by the Turks. The defenders of Okić were favored by mother nature, but also by the skill of the builders, so that for the war technique and skill of that time, Okić remained a nightmare for all his attackers.

In two generations, from 1416 to 1479, Okić belonged to Frankopani, and that to Prince Nikola IV. Frankopan, and then to his son Martin II. who left it with some other possessions after his death to King Matthias Corvinus.

The ascent and tour of Okić inspired me to write a story about Princess Katarina, the only daughter of Prince Nikola IV's 11 children. Frankopana, which will be found in the new book of stories about Frankopana.

And finally, I found information about the name Okić itself. They say that it originated from the Latin name from the Roman era "Mons acutus", which would be perfectly translated into Croatian as "Sharp Hill", but over time, people corrupted the original term into today's Okić.

If you decide to visit this fort, which I definitely recommend from the bottom of my heart, choose a nice and sunny day with good visibility. You'll enjoy the view as much, if not more, than we did.

///If you haven't yet, go on a trip to Samobor

Photos: Tomislav Beronić

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Order books FRANGERE PANE: Stories about Frankopans i Stella Aurea by Tomislav Beronić. The book is available at links

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