Mali Tabor
THE ABANDONED CASTLE IN CROATIA
The ‘Mali Tabor’ Castle is mentioned for the first time in written Croatian sources at the end of the 15th century. It was then owned by the Ratkay family, but its builders are unknown to this day.
Mali Tabor, the former castle and later palace, was built on an important strategic point, providing visual contact with nearby major medieval castles.
Historical sources from 1511 mentions the term castellum (castle, small fort) for Mali Tabor. The first known owners were Ivana Korvina, son of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. He owned the castle from 1490 until 1504. After Korvina died, the property was owned by Juraj Brandenburg until 1524. Brandenburg sold the building to Ratkay family. In 1772, Ivan Ratkay left the Mali Tabor castle to his nephew, the baron Joseph Wintershoffen, in whose possession it remained until 1818. Later the castle was inherited by Rikard Jelačić from Zaprešić. He owned the castle until 1876, and from then it was owned by the Irish baron Henry Cavanagh, whose descendants kept the castle until the end of the Second World War.
In the earliest phase of construction, the castle had the shape of a rectangular building with defense walls and four semi-towers. The western wall, is probably the original defense wall of the old Mali Tabor castle.
Palace
During the second phase of construction, the castle was transformed into a one-storied Baroque palace. It remained in this function until the 19th century. In 1861 a one-storied annex was built in the eastern wing of the castle on the northern side. This was also the time when the northern defense wall of the castle was torn down and a new entrance portal was built. The portal has been preserved to this day. The castle is abandoned for many years today. It is in a bad state and for sale. These photos of ‘Mali Tabor’ were taken in 2018.
