Lepoglava

History

Lepoglava is probably best known for hosting the main Croatian prison, the Lepoglava prison. In 1854, a monastery of the Pauline Fathers was transformed by the authorities into a prison. In the twentieth century, the prison was used to intern political prisoners by the authorities of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, and SFR Yugoslavia. During WWII, the Lepoglava concentration camp was built by the Ustashe; around 2,000 prisoners were murdered there. Archaeological remains found in Kamenica (6 km north of Lepoglava) show that this place was occupied in prehistorical times. A fortified residence was built there, atop a steep hill, during the second half of the 13th century. Višnjica (about 12 km north of Lepoglava) was also occupied during the Paleolithic Stone Age, and the earliest known written mention is from 1244. soon arrived. Although it was not the first Pauline monastery in Croatia, it was destined to become the most important one. The famous painter Ivan Krstitelj Ranger (1700-1753) joined the monastery as a layman in 1734. He painted Lepoglava's church and monastery as well as a number of churches and chapels near Lepoglava and elsewhere, with most of his work dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He died in 1753 in Lepoglava and is buried in the church there. Linguist Ivan Belostenec (1593-1675) completed his initial studies at the Pauline school of Lepoglava, then studied philosophy in Vienna and theology in Rome. He was among the first Paulines who studied at Jesuit schools to train as professors for Pauline schools. Having subsequently held several positions of authority in the order, he retired to Lepoglava monastery in 1663 and worked there on his most important work: the ‘Gazophylacium’, a two-volume Latin-Croatian dictionary that…