Otočec Castle (Slovenia)

With its position on the island in the middle of the Krka River, the castle building together with the park creates one of the most picturesque images in Slovenia, and it belongs both among the cultural and the natural sights. In the sources, the castle was mentioned in 1252, and in the following centuries it changed owners and thus also the image, and today, in the original renovation, the hotel Otočec is the king.

It is not known who built the original Otočec castle, nor do we know when. His original position is not entirely clear, as he is supposed to stand on the right bank of the Krka River. Only one of his later owners was supposed to order that a part of the land on the right side of the castle be excavated, so that the water will protect him from all sides from the enemies.

The castle originally belonged to the family of the Otočani, then came into the possession of the Vilander family, after which the barons Lenkoviči, among which Jurij Lenkovič was especially known, lived in the castle, and in the 16th century the provincial chief of Kranjska. Then the castle went into the possession of the family Dovolec, who sold it to Wolf Jakob Solncu. The last owner of the castle was Count Margheri.

The medieval design of the castle changed over time, but some architectural fragments were preserved and should not be ignored. Among the most important witnesses of past time is the Renaissance portal from the 16th century, with a marble medallion with a girl profile.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the castle was seized by the Italians, for its fortress, and in 1942 partisans burned it up, and only two ruins left him and his two bridges. In 1952, the extensive renovation of the castle began, with the renovation of the roof, and it ended six years later, also with the help of the International Working Brigades. In 1959 the first restaurant was restored in the renovated castle. In the following decades, the castle changed its appearance until today, when one of the most attractive hotels in Slovenia, the Otočec Hotel, is reigned in the castle renewed in the spirit of the Gothic and Renaissance.

The Otočec Castle is not only the only water castle in Slovenia, but also the only one burned during the war, followed by a restored castle in Dolenjska.