Old Town Samobor

Every time you gaze towards the hill with the ruins of the Old Town Samobor, there is an irresistible urge to visit it. Even though today there are only a few remains, the castle attracts and still holds the power that it had for centuries over the market town of Samobor, but also the influence it had to protect the area from other armies.

Through the centuries many kings and noblemen were the masters of the town of Samobor, from the Czech king Otokar who had it built in 1268, probably on the spot of existing construction. Noble families Arpadović, Babonić, Anžuvinac, Frankopan, Erdody, the dukes of Celje, Matija Korvin, families Ungnad, Gruber, Auersperg, Kulmer, Kiepach, Alnoch and Montecuccoli, all were upgrading the castle and all lived in it.

From the first Romanesque-Gothic castle with a massive tower, it acquired through time the late Gothic and Renaissance forms and at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century it became a Baroque-style castle.

Its owners were often in conflict with the residents of the market town of Samobor, proof of which is the centuries’ long legal lawsuit lasting from the 15th century to 1769. The town of Samobor, as a free royal market town was outside the power range of the noblemen owning the Old Town at the time, until King Matijaš Korvin made a mistake and let the owners of the Old Town at the time to be entered in the books as the owners of the market town as well. The book with the records of the entire legal lawsuit can be found at the Samobor museum.

In the end, in 1902, the deserted and dilapidated castle finally came under the ownership of the market town for 5293 korun as a tourist attraction which some film buffs remember as the location which could have been lethal for Jackie Chan filming the movie “Armour of God”. Unfortunately, years’ prolonged efforts to prevent the destruction of the Old Town were in vain, so the entry among its ruins is only at your own risk.