Basic facts about Varazdin

Varazdin is a city in northwestern Croatia along the river Drava and is the center of the Varazdin County. Varazdin City covers 10 villages: Crnec Biskupecki, Donji Kucan, Gojanec, Gornji Kucan, Hrascica, Jalkovec, Kucan Marof, Poljana Biskupecka, Varazdin and Zbelava.

History of Varazdin

Varazdin is not only one of the most beautiful and oldest, but one of the most distinctive of Croatian cities, with a clearly profiled identity - as a city of baroque music and flowers. Varazdin is one of the oldest Croatian cities, whose historic name (Garestin) mentioned for the first time for 20th August 1181st in document from the Croatian-Hungar king Bela III. However Varazdin is the first of Croatian cities that gained the status of free royal town. Such privilege for Varazdin is approved by King Andrew II Arpadovic, its charter from the 1209th , and again confirmed king Bela IV. legal document from the 1220th year.

Since that time, and practically till 1850. when thay united territorialy and administrative, old fort where the Varazdin county seat and the neighboring village of free citizens (civitas Varasdiensis) - lived in a kind of symbiosis, ie, existential juridiction interdependence and autonomy. Specifically, from 1209 The oldtown prefect no longer had judicial authority over the citizens of Varazdin, but they have their own elected town council (city hall) and the city judge (Rihtar), and were exempt from tax and thirtieth.

After the first known mayor of Varazdin (Belec, Motmera and Zaharija), the old fort (and municipalities) operate in county function of members of noble families who possessed property in its "dominium Varasdiensis." These were Bubeki (1397th to g.) , then counts Herman, Friedrich and Ulrich of Celje (the 1456th years), and during the 15th and 16th centuries - Jan Vitovec, Ivanis Korvin, Juraj Brandeburg, Thuroczi, Stjepan Barthory and John and Krsto Ungnad. From the 1607th year, when by the decision of King Rudolf II. Count Thomas Bakac Erdödy has become a Varaždin prefect, members of this family for centuries have been performing this honor and were the owners of the Old Town to the 1925th when the old fortress turned it into a town museum.

Thanks to its privileged status of the Royal city, but also because of other favorable circumstances, Varazdin is already in the 15 century became an important trading, craft, social, administrative and traffic center of the northwestern Croatian. Varazdin already has its own architectural coat, which in 1464th The King Matthias Corvinus had specifically confirmed, and on 14 december 1523rd Mr. Earl George Bradenburg donated to Varazdin City a Hall building, which, in practice, remains in the same position all about today. So Varazdin has one of the oldest town hall in Europe, whose final appearance is designed in the late Baroque style.

Although the above-mentioned period (from 16th to 18th century) in Varazdin, often sat by the Croatian Parliament, its highest social, political and economic boom experienced Varazdin in the second half of the 18th century, when in fact becomes the capital of Croatia. Namely, since the 1756th here is the seat of the Croatian Ban Francis Nadasdyj, and when the Empress Maria Theresa in 1767th year established the Croatian Royal Council, for its center is explicitly set - Varazdin, who thus became the political, administrative and cultural center of Croatian Kingdom, Slavonia and Dalmatia.

All this magnificence and splendor of playful social Varazdin in the baroque era, when it contemporaries rightly called "little Vienna" suddenly interrupted a catastrophic fire on 25 april 1776th in a suburb of Varazdin. On that occasion, the blind forces of fire destroyed two thirds of the city, namely, 385 buildings (of total 501). As a result, the Croatian Royal Council and the ban Nadasdy left Varazdin, and since then Zagreb again became the administrative center of Croatian.