June 6 P-Day. Found us traveling again, this time to Veliki Tabor Castle, near the Slovenia border.
Veliki Tabor was built in the 1500's by Hermann II Celjsk, the father to the Prince's of Celje. I think there were four princes...
(Last weeks castle in Celje was this Hermann II's main castle.)
Veliki Tabor was later owned by a Hungarian noble family (Rattkay) for nearly two hundred years, until 1793, and then several other owners through the years. Eventually it was taken over by the Republic of Croatia and has now been fantastically renovated.
They hold international festivals and archery contests here.
Over centuries, many legends and stories arose of Veliki Tabor, particularly stories about ghosts that haunted it and strange groans on stormy nights. But the most legendary is the tale of Veronika of Desinic.
The legend begins a long time ago, when mighty count Hermann II of Celje ruled these parts. They were a rich aristocratic family.
His younger son Frederick, riding once across his father's estate, met a beautiful young gold-haired woman by the name of Veronika. They fell in love at first sight, but the love was much disfavoured by the old count Hermann. The disfavour was mostly due to the fact that Frederick was already married, but no longer living with his legitimate wife. His father persisted on their reconciliation and arranged a meeting of the spouses in the city of Krapina. The next morning his wife was found in bed with a knife in her. Although the rumor was that Frederick himself had killed her, it was never proven. After this event, Frederick and Veronika fled and were secretly married. Count Hermann found out about the wedding soon though and sent an army to capture the lovers. Frederick managed to get Veronika out of the town. Unfortunately, Frederick was unable to escape his father's troops and was captured and locked in a tower in Celje (you saw that castle and tower last week on my post). He spent over four years locked in the tower.
Veronika, had no better luck. After a while, Hermann's soldiers found her and took her to Veliki Tabor. He accused her of being a witch and a trial took place. She was found innocent but he was furious and after the judges declared her free of charges and left, he ordered her to be killed. The servants set a large wooden bowl of water in the middle of the castle, grabbed Veronika and drowned her. Her dead body was sealed inside a wall. Even today, especially during long winter nights, when wind blows, one can still hear the silent cries of poor Veronika!
This castle even had a torture room, complete with "The Rack", a "Chair of Nails", "Chopping Block" and all kinds of weapons. These people were not to be messed with or crossed!!
You can see why people fought/fight over this land...it is beautiful for miles and miles!
This picture is for my family who are farmers....Acres of crops: grain, corn, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, peas, beans, tomatoes, onions, strawberries, cherries, apricots, grapes...NOT just gardens but acres. They sell them at the different town squares throughout the countryside.
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