Zaprice manor in Kamnik

You have before you a presentation of the history of the manor better known by Kamnik locals as Zaprice Castle. Occupying an excellent position, on a slight rise above the suburb of Šutna, is the only preserved manor complex in the wider area that is today dedicated to the public and houses a museum.

The earliest evidence of manorial settlement at the location can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th century. First taking the form of a presumed early Gothic residential tower or tower house, it is transformed in the middle of the 16th century, when Jurij Lamberg has it remodelled into a picturesque Renaissance building with corner oriel towers that give the small mansion a more formidable appearance. The last major alterations and modernisation of the manor complex took place towards the end of the 18th century, when it was owned by Anton Medard Wiederkehr. These developments are expounded on by architect, art historian and castelologist Igor Sapač, who together with his colleague, the architect Sanja Špindler, also created digital reconstructions of the main phases of building development of Zaprice manor through the centuries.

In the second essay, authored by historian and ethnologist Zora Torkar and entitled Life Behind Manor Walls, we discover the life stories of the manor’s owners in the 19th and 20th centuries – from happy memories of holidays at Zaprice to sad memories of the loss of everything they owned; the joyful, leisurely sojourns of the Zapricites, renowned Slovenian poets and writers who spent their summer holidays at the idyllic manor; the still vivid memories of students who spent several years in the student hostel; and the residents who lived in unsuitable apartments until the museum was founded. The Museum of Kamnik was established on 4 December 1961, and in the following decades the buildings of the manor complex were thoroughly investigated and renovated in accordance with its requirements.

You can get it in museum shops. You are invited to purchase.