Karlovac

Karlovac’ was built as a fortress town in 1579 by the Austrian Empire and contained many elegant buildings. A lot of these are now in a poor condition following the town’s decline after the Homeland War. This is a good example.

Some dwellings are also in a state of decay. We’ve seen very few occupied properties in this condition in Croatia in general. We know this one is being lived in from the lady hanging out washing, and the sky dishes.

In my childhood it was not unusual to see bombsites left from World War II, and similarly here we are seeing the aftermath of a war. The main difference is the type of damage: here it’s often the bullet holes of hand to hand fighting in the streets.

But let’s not portray a worse picture than it is. It’s not all falling to pieces, so to prove it here’s a church tower and town roofs all in good condition. Well, maybe a lick of paint on the bottom right hand tower.

There was also a medieval pageant held at the castle overlooking the town on the last weekend in May. The participants went to great trouble to dress the part and provided all sorts of re-enactments, like this dancing.

We found the most authentic presentation to be the weapons fighting. A man and woman demonstrated their skills with swords, daggers and pikes. They were highly accomplished. The photo shows the pike fight. I imagine the combatants were in fact man and wife as she looks like she really wants to kill him.

The Turk with his turned up toes and beard looks the part, as do the children and the man in black and white picking his nose! Most realistic, as they must have had bad (or worse) habits back in those days!