Ocena: Veličastni celjski grad
V Sloveniji 8. februarja praznujemo edinstven praznik – kulturni dan oz. Prešernov dan. Na ta dan muzeji, galerije in druge kulturne ustanove na široko odprejo svoja vrata in ponudijo brezplačni vstop. To priložnost sem danes izkoristila tudi sama in obiskala Stari grad Celje, ki se mi je zasidral v srce že mnoga leta nazaj.
Stari grad Celje je delno v ruševinah, vendar zaradi tega ni nič manj očarljiv. Kraljuje visoko nad mestom in tako obiskovalcem ponuja čudovite razglede na mesto Celje. Sestavljen je iz več predelov in večina le-teh je obiskovalcem dostopna. Najvišja točka v grajskem obzidju pa je zagotovo Friderikov stolp.
Zgodba Friderika in Veronike
Stari grad Celje se ponaša z dolgo in veličastno zgodovino, ki so jo začeli pisati Žovneški gospodje, katere so Habsburžani povzdignili v Celjske grofe in kasneje v Celjske kneze. Zgodovina Celjskih pa je polna nepozabnih zgodb in likov. Med fascinantnimi Celjskimi zagotovo izstopa Barbara Celjska, ki je bila učena ženska in alkimistka, katero imajo nekateri celo za čarovnico. Še najbolj pa buri romantično domišljijo zgodba Friderika in Veronike.
Friderik in Veronika Deseniška sta bila mlada zaljubljenca, ki sta se vzela, kljub prepovedi Friderikovega očeta, Hermana II.. Ta se je zaradi tega toliko ujezil, da je svojega sina zaprl v stolp, ki še danes kraljuje v Celjskem gradu, Veroniko Deseniško pa obtožil čarovništva in jo utopil.
Omenjeno zgodbo in osebnosti lahko po novem spoznate tudi na informativnih tablah po gradu, na katerih je predstavljena zgodovina gradu in njihovih prebivalcev.
Grad je vreden ogleda
Grad je s svojo romantično podobo in prijetno energijo bil vedno vreden ogleda, vendar moram priznati, da sem bila danes, ko sem ga obiskala po nekaj letih, resnično presenečena. Danes je ta namreč zagotovo veliko bolj privlačen obiskovalcem.
Poleg romantične podobe grajskih ruševin in Friderikovega stolp, ki daje Celjskemu gradu še lepšo veduto, danes tam najdete tudi nekatere manjše razstave. Med drugim se prav v Friderikovem stolpu nahaja zanimiv Teater groze, ki je pravzaprav stalna razstava srednjeveških mučilnih naprav. Le teh sicer na razstavi ni pretirano veliko, so pa podrobno opisane, celotnemu Teatru groze pa daje še poseben temačen čar rdeča osvetljava, ki te, če imaš razgibano domišljijo, lahko napolni najmanj z nelagodnimi občutki.
Poleg te, pa za obzidjem gradu najdemo tudi razstavo, ki sta jo osnovala lokalna umetnika Mark Požlep in Gašper Piano. Gre za zvočno inštalacijo Svetlikanje prekletih. Zanimiva avtorska glasba prebuja duhove Celjskih in nas vrača v preteklost, znotraj inštalacije pa so na ogled tudi različne postavitve, ki nam nekoliko približajo zgodovino Celjskih.
Grad je torej vreden ogleda, upravljavci pa se trudijo na različne načine obiskovalcem še bolj približati zgodbe in zgodovino Celjskih.
Ocena: 5 / 6
The Review: A great Castle of Celje
In Slovenia we have a very special holiday on the February 8th – a Cultural day or a day of France Prešeren. On this day all the galleries, museums and other cultural sights open their doors for the visitors and offer a free entrance. Today I decided to take this chance and I visited the Castle of Celje, which already took my heart many years ago.
The Old castle of Celje is partly in ruins, but that doesn’t make it less charming. It stands high above the city of Celje and gives a visitor a great view from its walls. It’s built from a few tracts and most of them are accessible for the visitors. The tallest point of the castle walls is the Frederick’s tower.
The story of Frederick and Veronica
The Old castle of Celje has a long and magnificent history, which was written first by the lords of Žovnek, which were, with the help of Hapsburgs, elevated first to counts of Celje and then to princes of Celje. The history of the Celje counts is full of unforgettable stories and characters. If we talk about the most fascinating characters, we can’t pass Barbara Celjska, who was a very wise woman and an alchemist, some of people even believed that she was a witch. But the most romantic and unforgettable story is definitely that about Frederick and Veronica.
Frederick and Veronica were young lovers who got married without the permission of Frederick’s father, Herman II. He was so angry about that, that he locked his son into the tower, which still reigns above the Castle of Celje and he drowned Veronica under the pretense that she is a witch.
You can find out more about this story and the castle residents on the information panels throughout the castle.
Castle is worth seeing
The castle has always been worth seeing with its romantic image and a nice vibe, but I must admit that today I was pleasantly surprised when I visited it after a few years, because nowadays it’s even more attractive for the visitors then before.
Today, beside the romantic image of the castle ruins and the tower of Frederick which gives the castle even more attractive look, you can find a lot of information about the castle and even a few smaller expeditions within the castle walls. In the Frederick’s tower you can now find the Theatre of horror, which is actually a permanent exhibition of medieval torture devices. It’s true that there is not a lot of pieces of it, but they are simply explained on the information panels, and the whole Theater of horror brings you chills with it’s red lights.
Beside this exhibition in the Castle of Celje you can find the exhibition The Shimmering of the coursed, which was built by two local artists, Mark Požlep and Gašper Piano. It’s a sound installation filled with an interesting copyright music which is waking up the ghosts of the past and brings us in to the history. As a part of the installation there are also a few formations which brings the history of Counts of Celje even closer to us.
The Castle is certainly worth seeing and the managers of the sight are really trying to bring the stories and the history of the Counts of Celje closer to the visitors in various ways.
