A 10-15 minute hike from the center of Samobor's old town
lies the Samobor Castle. Perched high on a hilltop overlooking
the
town, the castle was constructed by supporters of the Czech king
Ottokar II of Bohemia, and was intended to protect the town, a
vital
market on the eastern European trade routes. Hungarian forces of
King
Stephan V under the command of Okic captured the town and laid
claim to
the town's tax revenue. The castle underwent major fortification
and
renovation in the 16th century, and by the 17th and 18th
centuries, as
the threat of war in the region subsided, it was taken over by a
number
of wealthy families and renovated as a grand villa. The last of
these
families abandoned the castle/villa in the 18th century, and
from that
point on it deteriorated to its present state. The castle was
purchased
for 236 dollars in today's prices. The castle is unadorned in
terms of
information, save one sign at the entrance, and it is
unsupervised. A
walk up a rather steep pathway (actually, there are two) rewards
visitors with a view of these magnificent ruins.
Striking out from town we
walked about 15
minutes to reach Crvka sv. Mihael (the Church of St. Michael),
shown in
the photo to the left. From there it is a rather steep fifteen
minute
ascent up a hillside trail to reach the castle entrance.
Alternately,
there is a slight less steep path from a parking lot off the
main road
from Samobor. This path features a fountain where visitors can
get a
drink and catch their breath before continuing up the hillside.
The
fountain is shown in the photo to the right. The features of the
Samobor Castle ruins are described in the virtual tour below.
Virtual
Tour of Samobor Castle
Virtual Reality
Tour for VR
Headsets:
There
is also a version of this tour
designed specifically
for VR headsets such as Google
Cardboard, and it works with both iPhone
and Android devices. It may be accessed by scanning
on the QR code to the
left. If you are viewing this on a mobile phone, you may
access the VR
tour by following this
link.
For iOS devices:
scan QR code with your device's camera app, tap on the prompt to
open
Safari. Select "Allow Device Motion" and the next prompt, "Allow
Access
to Motion Orientation." Turn the device to landscape mode and a
split
screen will appear. When the screen turns white, swipe up for
fullscreen mode, and place in headset. Here is a
video of
how to do this--it is simpler than it sounds! [The video opens
in a new
window--close when done to return to this page]
For Android
devices:
Open the camera app and use the built-in scanner to
scan the QR code
above. Confirm that you want to open the website, and
wait for it to
load--it should load in stereo view. Select the
fullscreen ("X" option)
from the menu at the bottom. Turn the device to
landscape mode and you
are ready to go. Here
is a video of how to do this--it
is simpler than it sounds! [The video opens in a new
window--close when
done to return to this page]
