Hrvatski

VISIT TO THE ANCIENT RASPOR

The Forgotten Istrian Key

Grb porodice Ungrispach iz koje dolazi Nikola iz Cormonsa, zet Nikole iz Rašpor

How did the Tyrolians come to the heart of Ciceria? Slovenian historian Dr. Peter Stih discovers that Vointsgerg is located 10 kilometers west of Brixen, and that the nobility whose name was von Voitsburg, after the family branch of their Tirolian owners died off joined the counts of Gorizia and so came to the south, to our Raspor

On a plateau, which starches along a valley surrounded by the peaks of Ciceria between Racje Vas and Trstenik lies Raspor, a village like any other in this area which is marked by a number of abandoned and run down houses. After walking for 20 minutes through overgrown area and a pine forest on the Gradina hill, you will be able to find the remains of the old Raspor castle.

You can find Raspor on the only road that was directly connecting the lands of the prince of Gorizia in Krsan with Pazin, which was the center of their possessions in Istria, built with the obvious purpose to protect and control this important route. It is no wonder that the Venetian Senate in 1393 declared Raspor "the key of the entire Istria" when they agreed to buy Raspor from Anna, the daughter of the prince of Gorizia Maihart II, who became the wife of Ivan Frankopan, the count of Krk.

According to the terms of purchase, the next year the then forgotten Raspor, because of it strategic position, became the center of the Venetian military government in Istria. The first time that Raspor is mentioned in historical sources is in the agreement, signed in Buzet on March 20, 1264, between Gregory of Montelongo, the Patriarch of Aquilleia, with count Mainhard IV of Gorizia and Albert II, and the witnesses of the signing of the accord are mentioned as; Urlich from Reihenberk, Henrich from Pazin and Philip from Raspor (Philippus de Raspurch). Philip was a nephew of Arlong von Voitsberg of Tirol, the bishop of Trieste (ordained in 1262), who was monetarily helping his nephew in Ciceria.

Ostaci zidina rašporske tvrđav

Od cisterne iz 1420. ostala je samo obzidna, granjem ispunjena rup

How did the Tyrolians come to the heart of Ciceria? Slovenian historian Dr. Peter Stih discovered that Vointsgerg is located 10 kilometers west of Brixen, and at that time the nobility whose name was von Voitsburg, joined the counts of Gorizia after the family branch of their Tirolian owners died off, and thus came to our Rasor to the south. In a document from 1304, besides the earlier mentioned Philip, they also mentioned his brother Nicholas, and his brother-in-law, also Nicholas, who were from Cormons-Krmin near Gorizia. They belonged to the branch of nobility of Gorizia who resided in the fortification of Vogrsko and who in 1328 bought the two villages of Pasjak and Sapjana at the foothills of Ciceria.

At that time, Vogrosko was in the hands of the family Ugrispach, whose coat of arms can be seen today in Pazin's parish church of St. Nicholas. This information is very interesting because until now there was very little known about the family Ungrispach and it was considered to be a noble family of Pazin of German origin. According to the information, however, there is also among others the coat of arms of the owner and co-owner of Raspor of that time.

In the second half of the XIV century, Raspor changes owners so that in 1358 count Mainhard VII gave it as a dowry to his sister Elisabeth, the wife of the prince Geoge Krbavski, who the following year (1359) gave it to Venice together with the castle of Raspor. Shortly after that Raspor returned to the possession of the counts of Gorizia so that in 1393 Mainhard gave it to his daughter Anna as her dowry to become the wife of John Frankopan. He then gave it on consignment to Venice in 1394 and after Anna's death in 1402, her brothers Henry and John Mainhard sold Raspor to Venice. On September 6, 1402, there was a signing ceremory and celebration for the transferrance of Raspor to Venice and attended by about eighty mayors of various Istrian townships.

Dio crijepa s davno srušenog krova rašporske tvrđav

Dolina nad kojom su stoljećima stolovali rašporski gospodar

Soon after, Venice gave Raspor significant importance as the center of their captaincy i.e. the center of their military command in Istria, whose duty was to provide security along the borders of the Austrian nobility. This glory was short-lived because in 1421 Venice obtained Buzet and a year after the cistern was built in Raspor (whose remains can still be seen), Raspor began to lose its significance. Destructions during the wars in the XV century forced Venice to continuously repair the castle. Following that, in 1511 Christofer Frankopan and Nicholas Rauber attacked Raspor and partially destroyed it. Venice decided to move its rectory to the safer Buzet, where Venice continued to maintain its Raspor captaincy as the main military outpost in Istria and leaving a military installation in the fort at Gradina.

In later centuries the castle lost further significance and the "tooth [ravages] of time" and poor care by the owners from the other side of Adriatic allowed it to become a ravine [sunken ruin], which even today shows its past pride that can be sensed by a visitor who is interested in the ancient Raspor.

Translation by Pino Golja

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