Registration for the participation in the festival programme at the LegendFest
Please note that LegendFest 2017 will no longer be held in the old town of Lukavec, near Velika Gorica.
Please note that LegendFest 2017 will no longer be held in the old town of Lukavec, near Velika Gorica.
The first wooden Lukavec settlement was built between 1474 and 1479. Yet, we can assume that a fortified settlement had been there or somewhere near even before because in 1256 in Croatian documents ‘caput Lukavez’ was mentioned.
The wooden Lukavec settlement was surrounded by a water-filled ditch with water coming from the Lukavec creek. It had a high palisade and wooden towers for side defence overlooking a large part of the Turpolje field. Another wooden Lukavec settlement, which was probably of the same shape and dimensions and in poor conditions, was built by the nobles of Turopolje after they had been bestowed the first one by Nikola Zrinski.
The fort we see today was built in 1705. It was built on pylons, made of bricks and covered with tiles. According to certain information, it was covered with shingles all the way back in 1895, and it can be assumed it looked like that during its construction as well. Lukavec’s layout was designed as a rectangular citadel with an inner courtyard with arcades, with a well in the western corner. There are four square towers rising at each corner. Above the entrance is a tower with a crest of the Noble municipality of Turopolje from 1752. The crest has an inscription saying: ‘Insignia Universitatis nobilium campi Turopolja 1752’. The tower once had clock faces on it.
The ground floor had a prison with no windows for serious criminals on the right side and one for petty criminals in the western tower. In the eastern tower there was a prison for ‘copernice’ i.e. witches who were trialed in Lukavec, especially in the 18th century. In the eastern and western wings there were no rooms and the walls had loopholes. The town’s guard room was situated in the south eastern tower and the in southern wing there were stables. The stairs leading to the first floor were situated in the north western tower.
On the first floor there are Lukavec castellan’s chambers and in the tower there is a chapel of St. Lucy. In the southern wing there is a big hall, connected to the tower’s chambers, with a cross-vaulted ceiling and with windows on the southern side. That hall was once a place where manifestations of Turopolje took place. The eastern and the western wings had loopholes. Such castle with moat, defence towers and loopholes on all sides and with no specific attack side is a typical plains castle.
How to reach Lukavec?
Lukavec can be reached by car from Zagreb.
Benefactors and sponsors
Grad Velika Gorica (Town of Velika Gorica)
TZ Zagrebačke županije (Tourist Board of Zagreb County)
TZ Grada Velika Gorica (Tourist Board of Velika Gorica)
Zagrebačka županija (Zagreb County)
DiyKits
PPS Galeković (Parquet and Flooring)
Perpetuum mobile d.o.o.
Media sponsors
Kronike Velike Gorice (Chronicles of Velika Gorica)
Organizers