Sokolac Castle
Encyclopedia
Sokolac Castle is a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Brinje
Brinje
Brinje is a municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia, located about 35 miles from Gospić. According to 2001 census, Brinje had 4,108 inhabitants, out of which 92% were Croats. The municipality is part of Lika....

, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. It is named after the Croatian word for hawk (sokol), which appears on the town's coat of arms.

History

It dates back to medieval times, while the town was held by the noble Frankopan
Frankopan
The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...

 and Gorjanski
Gorjanski
Garay or Garai were a Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary, a branch of the Dorozsma clan, with notable members in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were lords of Csesznek.-Name and origin:...

 families. The castle was part of an important medieval fortified city held by Frankopan family.

Sokolac Castle was an extremely grand building, dominated by the powerful perpendiculars of the entry tower, and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity. The entry into the burg was through a square, three-storey tower, the façades of which were relieved with lesenes linked at the top with blind arcades, making it a unique specimen in the whole of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

.

See also

  • Brinje
    Brinje
    Brinje is a municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia, located about 35 miles from Gospić. According to 2001 census, Brinje had 4,108 inhabitants, out of which 92% were Croats. The municipality is part of Lika....

  • List of castles in Croatia
  • Frankopan
    Frankopan
    The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...

  • Gorjanski
    Gorjanski
    Garay or Garai were a Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary, a branch of the Dorozsma clan, with notable members in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were lords of Csesznek.-Name and origin:...

  • Fortification
    Fortification
    Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

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