MILJANA – Baroque castle of the Ratkaj family

Miljana Castle in Hrvatsko Zagorje is one of the most famous and picturesque castles in Croatia. The first owners of the Miljana estate were the noble Ratkaj family, who built the castle near their other estate and castle, Veliki Tabor. The Ratkaj family owned Miljana for almost two centuries – from the early 17th century until 1793, when the last male member of the family passed away. After that, the castle changed owners – the Royal Administration (until 1852), the noble Kuhtić family (until 1890) and the Jäger family (until 1978). In 1978, the castle was purchased by a chemist, scientist and creator of the drug Apaurin, dr. sc. Franjo Kajfež. The castle remained in his family’s possession until 2010 when it was purchased by the construction company Kamgrad, owned by Dragutin Kamenski. Miljana is one of the few castles in Croatia that remained in private ownership during the socialist era. The castle was built over a period of two and a half centuries. Construction began in the Renaissance period around 1600 and continued until the mid-19th century. The largest part of the castle was built during the time of the Ratkaj Counts, who expanded and modified the castle several times. In recent times, the castle underwent a thorough restoration in the 1980s and again from 2010 to 2015, with the exterior appearance remaining unchanged. The current floor plan of the castle is rectangular, with an inner courtyard enclosed by wings of unequal width and height, which has remained unchanged since the mid-19th century. At the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, the façades of the castle and the outer wall of the courtyard were painted. The frescoes make the castle distinctive and set it apart from other castles in Croatia. In addition to the façades, the castle was also painted in the interior, more extensively than any other castle in Hrvatsko Zagorje. The castle's salons feature the most valuable wall paintings from the Rococo period in Croatia. All of them were restored at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. Miljana Castle is an example of a castle that has maintained the continuity of life in private ownership for over four centuries. Only for a few castles in Croatia can that be said. Academic Mladen Obad Šćitaroci Prof. dr. sc. Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci