Obrovac Castle

Obrovac Castle, locally known as Gradina Obrovac, Tvrđava Kurjaković or just simply as Fortica, lies in the small town of Obrovac, in the county of Zadar in Croatia.

Obrovac was first mentioned in 1337. It was a settlement strategically situated around a hill in a bend of the Zrmanja River. The castle may have been built, sometime in the 14th century, by the Kurjaković, a medieval Croatian noble family. The castle was connected to the former town walls. The town and castle were taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1527. At that time, the castle probably had a square shape with 4 corner towers. In 1687 the Ottomans were driven out by the Venetians. They then rebuilt the castle.

I do not know when the castle was abandoned and fell to ruin. I do, however, think it was used as an observation post or something, during some war in the 20th century, as I found remnants of a concrete structure in the north wall. Also, there seem to have been archaeological excavations in recent years.

Obrovac Castle can freely be visited. A nice small ruin in a sleepy little river town.

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