ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH OF THE VARAŽDIN FORTRESS

Utvrde oko naselja okruživale su grad Varaždin u obliku nepravilnog četverokuta s bastionima, polukružnim kulama te sjevernim i južnim gradskim vratima u koje se preko opkopa ulazilo drvenim mostovima. Njihov nastanak, prema do sada poznatim povijesnim izvorima, veže se uz opasnosti koje su prijetile širem području Hrvatskog kraljevstva i Štajerskoj u drugoj polovici 15. st., dok je srednjovjekovni fortifikacijski supstrat na kojem utvrde nastaju do sada još uvijek nedovoljno istražen. Točan početak njihove gradnje za sada predstavlja nepoznanicu, a podaci u povijesnim izvorima spominju postojanje i gradnju zidina već od 1516. godine. Neki elementi koji naslućuju izgled utvrda oko naselja prije modernizacije poznati su iz povijesnih izvora, ali svoju konačnu preobrazbu oni su dostigli svakako tijekom renesansne obnove plemićke utvrde u Wasserburg kada su ta dva elementa povezana zajedničkim fortifikacijskim sustavom. Nakon tog razdoblja, osim popravaka na utvrdi oko naselja nije bilo značajnijih intervencija do druge polovice 18. st. kada se probijaju zidovi na istočnoj i zapadnoj strani zbog urbanističkog razvoja grada i olakšavanja prometnog kretanja. Početkom 19. st. utvrde su sustavno razrušene, s ostavljenim tek temeljnim dijelovima zidina ispod ulične razine i pojedinim segmentima u temeljima kuća. Arheološkim nadzorom potvrđeni su ostatci sjevernog i istočnog dijela gradskog zida, zapad ni gradski zid ispitan je sustavnim arheološkim istraživanjem u sklopu projekta Bastion, dok se novijim konzervatorsko-restauratorskim istraživanjem na zgradi žitnice otkrio ostatak sjevernog gradskog zida koji istovremeno čini južni zid zgrade. Južni gradski zid jedini je koji do sad nije obuhvaćen arheološkim nadzorom, ali je vidljiv u temelju jedne od kuća na Trgu Slobode. Svi ostaci gradskih zidina pokazuju zajedničke građevinske značajke, a činjenica da su detektirani na sve četiri strane rasprostiranja, olakšati će bilo kakvu vrstu buduće rekonstrukcije u svrhu prezentacije. Kako se radi o vrlo malom postotku istraženosti u odnosu na površinu kojom su se gradske zidine rasprostirale, za sve nove spoznaje treba pričekati buduća arheološka istraživanja na području grada Varaždina.The town of Varaždin was surrounded by a fortification in the shape of an irregular quadrilateral with bastions, semi-circular half towers and north and south town gates which were entered across wooden bridges stretching over a moat. According to historical sources, its construction was associated with the impending threat to the wider area of the Kingdom of Croatia and Styria in the second half of the 15th century, while the underlying mediaeval fortification layer that preceded it has not been sufficiently researched yet. Although the exact time of the beginning of its construction remains unknown, the existence and construction of the walls is mentioned in the sources as early as 1516. Some elements indicating the appearance of the fortification around the settlement before it was modernised are known from historical sources, but its final transformation occurred in the Renaissance during the restoration of the feudal fortification into a Wasserburg, when these two elements were connected with a shared fortification system. Apart from repairs, after this period there were no significant interventions on the fortification until the second half of the 18th century, when the east and west walls were breached for the purpose of urban development and to facilitate transport. At the beginning of the 19th century the fortification was systematically demolished, leaving only the foundations of the walls beneath the street level and individual segments in the foundations of houses. In the course of archaeological supervision, the existence of the remains of the north and east part of the town wall was confirmed, the west wall was investigated in systematic archaeological research as part of the Bastion project, while the recent conservation-restoration research of the granary revealed the remains of the north town wall, which constitutes the south wall of the granary. The south town wall is the only wall that has not yet been included in archaeological supervision, but it is visible in the foundation of a building in Sloboda Square. All remains of the town walls share the same construction features and the fact that the segments of all four sides of the walls were detected will facilitate any kind of future reconstruction for presentational purposes. Since the percentage of researched segments is very small compared to the overall surface occupied by the town walls, only future archaeological research in Varaždin can provide new insights on the subject