This 18th century castle is located in the very center of Daruvar and it is a 1st Category Cultural Monument of the Republic of Croatia, as well as one of the most valuable baroque buildings in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County. It is an unavoidable point of visit for many tourists and local people.
The most beautiful palace in the whole kingdom – for those who want to know more
Antun Janković had a castle built for himself in Podborje called Daruvar (Ždralovgrad) with a spacious park around it, about which the then researcher and travel writer Friedrich Wilhelm von Taube wrote: “It is the most beautiful castle in the whole kingdom, so it would not be ashamed even in Vienna.” Since there were already several houses south of the castle, the name Daruvar spread to that part of the settlement as well.
The castle is built in the shape of the letter U. Three wings of the castle border the courtyard facing north, where greenhouses and a nursery in the garden were once located. There are sixty rooms on the ground floor and first floor. The central place in the central wing is occupied by the largest room of the castle – the salon. In addition to this dance and concert hall, upstairs were the library, dining room, boudoir, bedrooms, men’s salon and guest rooms.
On the ground floor of the castle today there is a decorated Wine Salon and an exhibition of written documents about the Janković family in Hungarian and Croatian written by the Hungarian historian Terézija Jánosné Horváth Balogh. The first floor houses the Room of Counts Janković, the Room of Jewish Culture and Tradition, the Homeland War in Daruvar Permanent Exhibition and the Daruvar in the Second World War Memorial Room.
Palace Garden – summer refreshment under the largest male ginkgo tree in Croatia.
The garden bears the characteristics of baroque and landscape style, and some of the trees planted when it was built are still there. The central preserved part on the south side of the castle, in front of the main entrance, is dominated by a male ginkgo biloba tree. The male tree is the largest and oldest example of its kind in Croatia with a trunk circumference of about seven meters, and since 1974 it has been protected as an individual tree. The Castle Garden is protected as part of the Daruvar urban complex and as an immovable cultural monument together with the castle. The garden is otherwise a beautiful summer location and a great photo spot where you can take a walk and take a break from the heat and seek refreshment in the shade of the largest ginkgo. Ginko is one of the most beautiful witnesses of time and the keeper of numerous memories. Its story is special, which is why it won the prestigious title of Silver Tree of the Year in 2020 when it won second place in the 2020 European Tree of the Year competition among 16 finalists of national competitions (Belgium, Bulgaria, Republic of Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdoms).
You can visit all these attractions and localities by bicycle, so if you want to get to know the historical and cultural localities while keeping a healthy spirit in a healthy body, feel free to contact one of our cycling guides in the county. It is highly recommended that you explore the county on a bicycle because the best way to get to know it is while riding and enjoying the undisturbed view of nature. We are waiting for you in Bjelovar-Bilogora County, a destination where culture and history create a happy adventure and an atmosphere of wellness, culminating in a rich table of food. It doesn’t get any better than that.
