Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31664/ripu.2019.43.16
The Cernik Castle – Continuity and Change in the Pre-Ottoman Heritage during the Baroque Era
Petar Puhmajer
orcid.org/0000-0003-4630-8863
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Zagreb
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to analyse the history of the Cernik castle starting from its construction in the 16th century until the 18th-century renovations, when it gained its present appearance. The castle was built for the Dežević (Dessewffy) family in the first half of the 16th century as a four-winged structure with cylindrical corner towers surrounded by a moat. In 1536, it fell into Ottoman hands and remained under occupation until 1688. When the Austrian army liberated Slavonia, Cernik became the property of the Imperial Chamber, which turned it into the seat of a manorial estate. In 1707, it was granted to Baron Maximilian von Petrasch, commander of the Brod and Osijek fortresses in the service of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Petrasch restored the damaged castle around 1720, keeping most of the old structures. His family continued to own the castle until 1756, when his son Josip sold it to the Marković family from Sombor. They undertook a large-scale renewal in 1756 and then again in 1781, giving it a baroque outlook. In the 18th-century renovations, the building kept its pre-Turkish four-sided elevation with corner towers, but a stretch of hallways with arches was added in the inner courtyard, a typically baroque hall in the main axe, a sail vaulting, as well as a system of flat plastered pilasters and strips on the façades. The retaining of the towers and the generally defensive character of the castle can be explained by the owners’ desire to keep its military appearance due to a possible upheaval on the Turkish border near the Sava river, for which a series of fortresses were built in Slavonia in the first half of the 18th century, but also as a memory of the heroic war times, which was characteristic of the peaceful period in the second half of the century. On this occasion, the rooms were turned into salons with large windows and decorative interiors. The Cernik castle exemplifies a construction boost that spread across Slavonia in the 18th century, when the old pre-Ottoman buildings were upgraded with constructional and stylistic elements typical of the baroque era.
Keywords
16th century; 18th century; baroque architecture; Cernik; Dežević; Maximilian von Petrasch; Marković family; renewals
Hrčak ID:
233948
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2019.
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