about
Janković (Jankovich) Castle situated in Islam Grčki is an exceptional and rare example of the combined fortification/residence complex built in medieval time.
It was especially important in 17 century, when it became part of the borderline between Venetian Republic (and hence the most-western border of the Christian West) and then expanding Ottoman empire. The complex has a rectangular form, aprox. 80 by 60 m, enclosed partly by buildings (residential, store-houses, stables, etc.) partly by high walls. The main residential building and tower divide the inner space into two courts. Just outside the walls, but belonging to the complex, there is a medieval, Romanesque church. Underneath the main tower is a dungeon and a secret room with a hidden entrance. The complex is located on the hillside, surrounded by a beautiful park of rare vegetation and trees hundreds of years old. It has its own spring of fresh water and fish-basin. The object is officially registered Monument of Culture of Croatia, ranked in the First category. The complex has been owned by Janković-Desnica family for almost four centuries. In the castle there were valuable and important collections of icons (16-18 c.), XIX – century pictures, valuable sacral objects, collection of medieval weapons, objects of fine-arts, ethnographic collection, archaeological collection, library with cca 6.000 books collected over centuries, many of them in foreign languages (primarily in Italian and French), furniture, geographic maps etc. The object is also rich in history, ranging from the 17th century folk hero, cavaliere Stojan Janković till the eminent novelist Vladan Desnica, who often lived and wrote there, and chose it as his final resting place.