Defense tower
The term guard tower in the context of forts was used to denote the main tower, the primary function of which was defense. In addition to this function, certain levels also served other functions, such as accommodation, entrance into the fort, warehouse, with the various functions mostly being intertwined.
The guard tower of Dubovac Castle is the only tower of a square layout, surpassing in height the other three round towers. Today, it hosts the permanent exhibition Around the Kupa and Korana Rivers, authored by Lazo Čučković and Željko Kovačić, conceived so as to follow the various functions exercised by towers in the old days, and at the same time represents a backdrop against which to present in one place the way of life in the forts of the Karlovac County from the Middle Ages to modern times.
The ground floor of the Guard Tower holds four scale models depicting the development of Dubovac Castle, from the times when there was a wooden fort on the knoll surrounded by a palisade, to the time when in the first half of the 19th century it was bought by Count Laval Nugent and renovated in the spirit of Romanticism, with crenellations on the roofs and towers. Ascending upwards, we continue our exploration on the first floor of the tower which used to be the main entrance to the fort, where we learn about the history of warfare and defense, and of the families that had owned Dubovac throughout history. The second floor reveals what chapels looked like, usually located within the fort unless there was a church in the vicinity. The premises contain replicas of movable and immovable inventory that was proper to chapels, with representative specimens from different sites in the Karlovac County. The next floor covers the topic of the residential function, but also emphasizes the novelties and changes brought about by the Renaissance period.
The space evokes the image of a room that previous Dubovac residents used to spend time in, and also features a beautiful cabinet for Lehnard Topler’s silverware from 1622, which is a part of our Furniture Collection. The central part of the Guard Tower’s top floor is occupied by a scale model depicting forts, fortifications, settlements, and churches that were present on the territory of the Karlovac County in the Middle Ages. Opposite this view of the medieval situation, borders of noblemen’s estates and the defense of territories, is a view spanning Karlovac and its broader surroundings. It is a place which had an important role in the supervision during the construction of the Karlovac fort, and a place which used to offer a vista of the border between two empires, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman.