 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photo by: Alex |
The old town of Dubovac is situated on an artificial hillock above the today's Karlovac. The town’s name witnesses that long time ago it was covered in oak (dub) wood. The archaeological researches show that the Croatian Middle Ages basically inherited the Roman Antiquity. Even older, prehistorical layer is 4 meters deep. Nearby there are remains of the first Dubovac parish, consecrated to Saint Michael, and on a slope near the town the castle was placed.
A mild slope above the Kupa River was colonized from 10th to 13th century, first by free tribal communities and than governed by the dukes of Babonić. Only in 1339 the settlement was noted in church documents, when it was granted its own parish priest; it is obvious that the event was preceded by a development that gave a church along side the fortress.
At the end of the 14th century Dubovac belonged to the family of noblemen Sudar, and in the 15th century proprietors were noblemen Ćupori Moslavački, noblemen Blagajski and others. Soon after the 1442 the owner become Banus Stjepan Frankopan; the dukes of Krk inherited Dubovac in the time of the historical marriage of Katarina Frankopan and Nikola Zrinski. In 1550 Katarina’s brother Stjepan Ozaljski gave the old town to his nephews, the dukes of Zrinski.
Turkish invasion on Croatia aimed also on Dubovac, especially in 1511, 1522 and 1540, it devastated settlements, but the stone structure managed to hold on. The last large attack happened in 1578, right before the Karlovac fortress was build.
In 1579 Dubovac was bought for the needs of the constructive commission for the frontier and the army commander’s office of the future Karlovac fortress. When it was build, the old town served to the military officers for a safer and more comfortable living, and they were trying to use the landed estate and to subordinate it to the Karlovac government. The castle wasn’t maintained properly. Round the half of the 18th century Dubovac was turned into the ordinary army warehouse, after the commanders moved into the new Karlovac military buildings.
During the French occupation, 1809 – 1813, the general Vienney arranged Dubovac to suit residential purposes; he was imagining the fortress as a country manor with belvedere where a military and civil cream could gather. In 1837 it was bought by Laval Nugent, Austrian general that gained big influence and land in the war against France. He saw Dubovac as a romantic residence, but not for long; he paid more attention to the near-by Bosiljevo and sold Dubovac to the manufacturer Rudolf Leon.
The spirit of civil, “reformist” Croatia embraced the old Dubovac as a favourite picnic site. In 1896 the town of Karlovac bought the castle, planning to decorate it. In the new war circumstances, the project was developing very slowly. In 1938 the hikers association "Dubovac" takes care of the old town, they made required researches, as well as a renovation project.
Not before the period between 1952 and 1961 was the renovation terminated, by Karlovac Committee for Renovation of Dubovac under the supervisions of Conservation Office of Croatia. In 1965 the management and the using ability were entrusted to the Town’s museum of Karlovac.
author: professor Igor Čulig
Literature:
Kruhek, Milan: Graditeljska baština karlovačko Pokuplja, Matica hrvatska Karlovac, 1993.
Kruhek, Milan: Stari grad Dubovac, povijesno turistički vodič, Gradski muzej Karlovac, Karlovac 2000.
Lopašić, Radoslav: Oko Kupe i Korane, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb 1985.
Mužar, Marinka: "Dubovac", Gradski muzej Karlovac, Karlovac 1984.
More about Dubovac and the other castles in Karlovac county find out on www.castellum-ka.hr.
