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Historical background to Varazdin
Varazdin is first mentioned in 1181. The present town developed near the fortress (Stari Grad). It was chartered as the free royal town by King Andrew II in 1209. The privileges were confirmed by Bela IV in 1220. The fortress passed into the hands of the counts Celjski at the end of the 14th century. In the centuries to come the Varazdin fortress changed several owners, the most influential of them being Beatrica Frankopan, Margrave Juraj of Brandenburg, and finally Baron Ivan Ungnad. At the end of the 16th century the counts of ErdÂdy became its owners, who assumed the hereditary position of Varazdin prefects. The period of the Reformation and the Counter-reformation underlie the most powerful cultural influence the town has ever experienced. With the arrival of the Jesuit Order the grammar school and the Zakmardi Convict were founded, Jesuit churches and monasteries were built. The 18th-century Varazdin is the seat of many Croatian noblemen of Civil Croatia, and in 1775 it became the administrative centre of the institutions of Civil Croatia, the Banal Court, the Croatian Royal Council (from 1767) and the Cameral School (1769 - 1772). In 1776 the fire destroyed most of the town, resulting in the administrative and political institutions moving back to Zagreb. Due to the large number of cultural and historical monuments it represents even today the most important cultural and art centre of northern Croatia.