Old town Okić

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On a desolate, rocky peak on the ridge of the Plešivica Mountain, only 5 kilometres from Samobor, lies the old town of Okić, an ancient fortification considered to be one of the oldest fortified towns in Croatia and a rare example of preserved Romanesque architecture in continental Croatia. It kept watch over the area for centuries and survived various attacks; it did not give up under the bursts of Mongolian tribes, and it was not destroyed by the Turkish siege in three different occasions. However, the passing of time left a mark, and today in the Old Town of Okić there are only remnants of its walls as witnesses of the times when it played an essential role in the defence.

The first record mentioning the town of Okić dates back to 1193 to the charter of bishop Kalan from Pécs, but it is believed the fortification may have existed earlier, in the time of the Croatian first sovereigns. The fortification had an important role as it served to shelter King Béla IV in his escape from the Mongols. It was mentioned in the charter given by the king to the market town of Samobor, and it is significant that he afterwards let Ivan of Okić built a twin town of Lipovac, a fortification which would additionally help in the defence of this town.

Through the centuries the town was ruled by the princes of Okić, the families Babonić, Bevenudi, Frankopan, then Matijaš Korvin, Ivan Horvat and in the end the Erdödy family in whose time, in 1616, the fortification became a wreck.

Today, the Old Town of Okić is not occupied by armies, but climbers and hikers, attracted by the walls settled on 499 metres above sea level which offer views of Posavina, Pokuplje, Zagreb, Medvednica and Plešivica. The first climber was a writer from Karlovac Dragojla Jarnević who wrote the first pages of the Croatian alpinism in 1843 because she climbed to Okić taking the harder climb from the south – barefoot.

Luckily, owing to hard-working climbers, today the ascent to the old town is much simpler, and you need only about 10 minutes on foot from the mountain hut “Maks Plotnikov” to the remnants of the fortification.