Lužnica Castle is an open type castle surrounded by a lake and park with well-kept promenade, created at the end of the 18th century. Castle is located in the suburbs of Zaprešić in Zagreb County.
The first owners of this estate were the noble family Čikulini from Italy who came to the territory of the Republic of Croatia at the end of the 16th century. At that time there was just courtyard surrounded by a park.
After the Čikulini, the state then came into the ownership of the family of baron Rauch. They’ve built a castle in which ban Levin Rauch, an important figure in Croatian history, was born and died there also.
In 1925. The order of Sister of Mercy bought the estate from Levin Rauch’s widow and converted it to accommodation for old and sick nuns from the order. They also cultivated the fields and land around the castle to feed other nuns and the patients in their hospital.
The castle was built under the influence of 18th century Austrian Baroque.
Looking at the castle from outside we can see that it is a one-story baroque style castle with highlight to the central hall. The central room was the place where most social life took place, and also the hall divides the castle into two sections. An interesting fact about the central hall ist that it has two balconies, one for man and the other for women. They look different because the female balcony has a bulge because of the large crinolines they were wearing. The hall also has a very expensive furnace that arrived from the Czech Republic.
The ground floor and cellar were meant for the servants while the first floor was meant for the residents.
In the southeastern part of the castle, there is a smaller room for religious purposes, the chapel of St. Cross with the baroque decor.
The castle went through a 6-year long renovation which was finished in 2007. Today, most of the rooms serve a different purpose.
The castle itself had a function of a convent for 80 years (until 2005), and today it is a spiritual and educational center called „Marijin dom“. The nuns live here no longer but use it as a place to hold various seminars, spiritual classes, and workshops.
