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Orsic Castle was built in 1756 by Croatian count Krsto Oršić (1718–1782) on the site of a previous fortress from the Middle Ages and designed in an L-shaped ground plan. From the backyard side, both the wings are open in arcades that follow the line of the corridor, while the outside frontage is quite simple, with rhythmically aligned windows and a few rustic details in the corners.
After a large earthquake in the 19th century, a classicist porch with a tympanum and Doric columns was added to the castle. Inside there is a well-preserved chapel with illusionist murals and an illustrated baroque altar.
Besides this castle, the Oršić family owned a large number of other castles, palaces and estates in Croatia, among which the most significant were castles Gornja Bistra at Zaprešić, Slavetić at Jastrebarsko, Jurketinec at Varaždin and palaces in Zagreb and Varaždin.
The castle was the feudal residence of the Oršić family, until the last members relocated in 1924. A primary school was situated in a part of the castle for some time after that, and a local peasant's cooperative society as well. At the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies, the castle was thoroughly renewed and transformed into a Museum of the Peasants' revolt, which deals with a tragic event that occurred in 1573 in this area.
Around the castle there is a park with a huge monument dedicated to the Peasants' revolt and to its leader Matija Gubec, made by a prominent Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić.
References:Dating from the 15th century, Kisimul is the only significant surviving medieval castle in the Outer Hebrides. It was the residence of the chief of the Macneils of Barra, who claimed descent from the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages. Tradition tells of the Macneils settling in Barra in the 11th century, but it was only in 1427 that Gilleonan Macneil comes on record as the first lord. He probably built the castle that dominates the rocky islet, and in its shadow a crew house for his personal galley and crew. The sea coursed through Macneil veins, and a descendant, Ruari ‘the Turbulent’, was arrested for piracy of an English ship during King James VI’s reign in the later 16th century.
Heavy debts eventually forced the Macneil chiefs to sell Barra in 1838. However, a descendant, Robert Lister Macneil, the 45th Chief, repurchased the estate in 1937, and set about restoring his ancestral seat. It passed into Historic Scotland’s care in 2000.
The castle dates essentially from the 15th century. It takes the form of a three-storey tower house. This formed the residence of the clan chief. An associated curtain wall fringed the small rock on which the castle stood, and enclosed a small courtyard in which there are ancillary buildings. These comprised a feasting hall, a chapel, a tanist’s house and a watchman’s house. Most were restored in the 20th century, the tanist’s house serving as the family home of the Macneils. A well near the postern gate is fed with fresh water from an underground seam. Outside the curtain wall, beside the original landing-place, are the foundations of the crew house, where the sailors manning their chief’s galley had their quarters.