Spanish Fortress, Hvar, Croatia - SpottingHistory.com

The Spanish Fortress (Španjola) was built at the beginning of the 16th century (during the Venetian rule) and was reconstructed in 1579. Today the fort holds a collection of amphora and other exhibits from antiquity and the Middle Ages. Besides experiencing its exquisite architecture, you will experience an unforgettable panoramic view of the city of Hvar, its surroundings and the Pakleni islands.

References:

Visit Hvar

Castles and fortifications in Croatia

User Reviews

Rajko Keravica (7 months ago)
Would recommend. Its not big, but surely it is interesting. There is also underneath it a path that you can walk and see various species of plants. Although this road leads to the walls and the doors, these are locked, so be careful not to make a wrong turn, there are sings drawn on pavement. Up in the fortress there is a cafe and a small prison wich was really cool to see. Grab your self a combo ticket for a theatre wich is located in the city, which really pays off.

Tito Lins e Silva (7 months ago)
Small tour but totally worth it. Amazing view from the city and the pakleni islands and great story behind the fortress itself and the shipwrecks nearby.

Pedro Valle (7 months ago)
To be very honest, the fortress itself is lacking of luster, but the views are to die for.

Igor Filko (7 months ago)
Genuine fortress with high walls, lookouts, cannons and dungeon. Real old but taken care of and provides a great view of the city. Hot as hell since there is no shade except in the dungeons which are fairly cool in contrast. Remarkable how small the cells in dungeons are. You would want to avoid getting jailed in those times. Small museum on site. Displayed several items from the sea floor which went down with some galleons and merchant ships hundreds of years ago. Something to visit.

Elliot Wasow (8 months ago)
Cool fortress with nice views over Grad Hvar. The prison cells were really haunting.

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Lednice Castle

The first historical record of Lednice locality dates from 1222. At that time there stood a Gothic fort with courtyard, which was lent by Czech King Václav I to Austrian nobleman Sigfried Sirotek in 1249.

At the end of the 13th century the Liechtensteins, originally from Styria, became holders of all of Lednice and of nearby Mikulov. They gradually acquired land on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border. Members of the family most often found fame in military service, during the Renaissance they expanded their estates through economic activity. From the middle of the 15th century members of the family occupied the highest offices in the land. However, the family’s position in Moravia really changed under the brothers Karel, Maximilian, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. Through marriage Karel and Maximilian acquired the great wealth of the old Moravian dynasty of the Černohorskýs of Boskovice. At that time the brothers, like their father and grandfather, were Lutheran, but they soon converted to Catholicism, thus preparing the ground for their rise in politics. Particularly Karel, who served at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, became hetman of Moravia in 1608, and was later raised to princely status by King Matyas II and awarded the Duchy of Opava.

During the revolt of the Czech nobility he stood on the side of the Habsburgs, and took part in the Battle of White Mountain. After the uprising was defeated in 1620 he systematically acquired property confiscated from some of the rebels, and the Liechtensteins became the wealthiest family in Moravia, rising in status above the Žerotíns. Their enormous land holdings brought them great profits, and eventually allowed them to carry out their grandious building projects here in Lednice.

In the 16th century it was probably Hartmann II of Liechtenstein who had the old medieval water castle torn down and replaced with a Renaissance chateau. At the end of the 17th century the chateau was torn down and a Baroque palace was built, with an extensive formal garden, and a massive riding hall designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach that still stands in almost unaltered form.

In the mid-18th century the chateau was again renovated, and in 1815 its front tracts that had been part of the Baroque chateau were removed.

The chateau as it looks today dates from 1846-1858, when Prince Alois II decided that Vienna was not suitable for entertaining in the summer, and had Lednice rebuilt into a summer palace in the spirit of English Gothic. The hall on the ground floor would serve to entertain the European aristocracy at sumptuous banquets, and was furnished with carved wood ceilings, wooden panelling, and select furniture, surpassing anything of its kind in Europe.

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