Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/90836cw2jy
THE OLD CITY OF VARAŽDIN GRANARY
Anka Ćurić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8030-456X
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod
Daria Škarpa Dubreta
orcid.org/0000-0002-7300-1018
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod
Abstract
The paper presents the findings of conservation-restoration explorations of
the building located in the south-western corner of the former county prefect’s
castrum plateau, recognized as the granary of the counts of Celje in the eastern
part, and the Varaždin general headquarters’ armoury in the western.
During the explorations, the published references, as well as the available
archival materials have been processed and analysed. During field work, methods
of visual analysis and probing of the construction material, the plastered
and paint layers have been used. Apart from conservation-restoration works, geophysical
explorations were also undertaken, as well as the test archaeological
probing on certain locations.
The present building is located within the perimeter of the estate that had
belonged, since its very foundation, to the fortified royal county prefect’s castrum.
That is why it seems impossible that such an estate could hold within the
property of a citizen, which is one of the arguments of older historiography for
attributing the lower part of the building to the granary of the Counts of Celje.
The other argument concerns the stone wall frames with gothic profiling, for
which the exploration findings from the building’s interior have unequivocally
shown that they were added at a later time.
The explorations performed have shown that today’s building has, through
a long historical period, consisted of two, functionally separated, buildings.
The explorations have resulted in fragmentary findings pointing to their stratified
building genesis. The oldest layer is the western part of the fortification’s
southern stone defence wall with loop-holes, dating back to the second half of
the 15th century at the latest. What followed was a number of historical building
adaptations in the 16th and 18th centuries, while the present appearance is the result of the final renewal, performed towards the beginning of the 20th century
for the needs of accommodating the archives. The problem of the exact powder
tower location and appearance i.e. of the manner of closing the Varaždin’s fortress
fortification ring and its linking to the surrounding fortifications before the
construction of del’ Aglio’s earthen fortification walls, sadly, remains unresolved.
Keywords
perfect’s castrum; the Counts of Celje; ganary; Varaždin general headquarters; armoury.
Hrčak ID:
231075
URI
Publication date:
24.12.2019.
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