Castles in Croatia and Slovenia

[Viking01 188]

We are back in the southeastern part of Europe and ready to see some more castles.

We depart from Grobnicko Polje (LDRD), Croatia.

Our first POI is Kostel Castle in Slovenia. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was an important strategic fortification against Ottoman invasions. With many of the countries of southeastern Europe occupied by or paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire, Slovenia became exposed to further Ottoman inroads into Europe. The castle, standing along one of the Ottomans' common incursion routes into Slovenia, came under attack several times. Only in 1578 did the castle fall, when the garrison accepted supposed refugees from the Ottomans, but these opened the door that night to the Ottoman forces, who killed and captured the inhabitants of the castle and its village and the surrounding region. The depopulated area was then settled by numerous irregular soldiers of the Habsburg Empire.

We land at Prilozje-Metlica (LJCR). From here we turn southeast and reach Dubovac Castle, Croatia. The Dubovac Castle overlooks the Croatian city of Karlovac. Its square tower was probably built during the 13th century. In the 15th century, the castle was rebuilt in Renaissance style. In 1837,  the castle was rebuilt in the spirit of romanticism. Today it houses a museum.

We head north and land at Pleso (LDZA), Zagrebs international airport. Zagreb is Croatia’s Capital city. Zagreb has a rich history, but the city was destroyed several times by earthquakes. We overfly the city with the Stadium and the St. Marks Church and land at Lucko (LDZL). We turn west and visit Otocec Castle. It is a castle hotel on a small island in the middle of the Krka River in Otočec, Slovenia. It is the only water castle in Slovenia. The name Otočec means 'small island'. The town of Otočec was renamed in 1952 by the communist government from the religious name Sveti Peter 'Saint Peter' to Otočec, and the castle itself was renamed from its former German name Werth to Otočec. Of the 30 small islets in the Krka River in this area, Otočec Castle is on the largest island, which was formed by cutting a southern channel around the castle, to form a moat around it. The island is linked to both banks of the river by two wooden bridges (one northern bridge and one southern bridge), so that one can drive from either the north side or the south side, straight through the islet, to the opposite side of the river. Otočec Castle has now been converted into a small luxury hotel, and it also has a world-class restaurant on–site. Bradt Travel Guides calls it "one of the most famous hotels in Slovenia."

We land at Novo Mesto (LJNM) head for Žužemberk  Castle. During the Second World War, Italian troops were stationed at the castle and guerrillas set it on fire. Partisan forces burned the school, courthouse, and health center in Žužemberk on July 26, 1943. In February 1945, as a Home Guard stronghold, Žužemberk was attacked by SAAF rocket attacks. The castle was heavily damaged but not destroyed (as the church was), and restoration work began in the 1960s.

We head north and land at Letalisce Zagorje (LJZA). Again we head east and reach Castle Sevnica. Like many other castles in Slovenia, Sevnica Castle was nationalized after the war, and the precious furniture, which remained untouched until then, vanished. Poor families without apartments of their own were accommodated in the castle and they contributed to the ruination of its property. The park was in a state of total neglect and nobody cared about the vineyard anymore, so even the wine cellar beside Lutheran Cellar was not needed and was removed. The attitudes towards this kind of legacy slowly changed in the sixties. The poor families were gradually removed from the castle and it began receiving new contents. The consciousness about the importance of Lutheran Cellar was also awakening and its frescos, depicting motifs from the Bible, were between 1963 and 1973 restored. At about the same time, Baroque fresco paintings depicting gallant motifs of four seasons were discovered in the southeast tower of the castle. Slovenian art historian Ivan Komelj has dated them to the 17th century. They were restored between 1977 and 1979. Sevnica Castle and the Lutheran Cellar have thus become an important center of culture and the main tourist attraction of Sevnica.

Only six miles further on the northern shore of the Sava River is Rajenburg Castle. We land at Imeno Field (LJPD) and continue northeast to visit Veliki Tabor Castle, Croatia. It is a castle and museum in northwest Croatia, dating from the middle of the 15th century. The castle's present appearance dates back to the 16th century.

About 14 miles further northeast we reach the last POI for this flight, Trakošćan Castle. It was built in the 13^th century and changed owners several times. In the second half of the 18th century, when the building of manors was flourishing, Trakošćan was abandoned. Neglected, it fell quickly into dilapidation. It was only towards the middle of the 19th century that the family became interested once again in its estate, in the Romanticist spirit of return to nature and family traditions. In this spirit, the deputy marshal Juraj V. Drašković turned the castle into a residential manor-house, while the surrounding park was turned into Romanticist pleasure grounds. The generations that followed were staying at the castle from time to time until 1944 when they were forced to emigrate to Austria. Soon after that, the castle became nationalized. The Museum with collections on permanent display was established in 1953. The castle is today owned by the Republic of Croatia. The castle itself reveals different phases of the building. For several centuries, it used to be a fortification, so the reconstructions undertaken during that period were functional rather than aesthetic. The facility's essential core is a Romanesque fortification consisting of a housing unit, a small fortified yard, and a massive high tower. The fortification's good location and its observation tower made it safe and easy to defend. We finish the flight at Ptuj (LJPT).

The flight plans are available here.

The flight has 200 miles and 6 landings. The shortest runway has about 1400 feet. I will probably be in the A2A Comanche. As always, please fly what you like.

 

There are 7 add-ons available at flightsim.to:

https://flightsim.to/file/14596/ldrg-grobnik-airfield

https://flightsim.to/file/35037/ljcr-metlika-airfield-slovenia

https://flightsim.to/file/46990/ldza-zagreb-franjo-tuman-airport

https://flightsim.to/file/29886/ljnm-novo-mesto-airfield-slovenia

https://flightsim.to/file/4091/zagorje-airfield

https://flightsim.to/file/59075/ljpt-ptuj-airfield-slovenia-aeroklub-ptuj

https://flightsim.to/file/31364/ldzl-luko-airfield

For a limited time, the package is available here.

Zagreb is available also as payware from Aerosoft.

 

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 2 PM departure.

 

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark and use DTP's Teamspeak Channel for communication.

 

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

 

[Viking01 188]

A note regarding the addon scenery: I included Zagorje (LJZA) in the package. It conflicts with the ASOBO enhanced airfield LJZA. I recommend not to install the freeware addon. I also makes take-off and landing there a little bit easier....