Vrbovec Castle Near Klenovac Humski - Archaeological Conservation Excavations in 2005

In 2005, systematic archaeological conservation excavations resumed at the Vrbovec castle that formerly belonged to the local nobility and which is known from historical sources as dating to the 1267-1497 period. Archaeological excavations encompassed the northern part of the plateau, outside boundaries of the medieval town, with the aim of discharging the massive northern wall of the castle and conserving it. The length of the wall is 20 m, and its width is 2 m. The outside face was constructed of more regular stone, arranged in relatively orderly rows, approximately 25 cm high (Fig. 1). The inside part of the wall was also constructed "in rows", but the stone used is less regular. The stones are bound with yellow mortar. The masonry works imitated the original construction style (stones arranged in regular rows, whereby occasionally a row is "skipped" for the sake of levelling due to the specific configuration of the terrain) (Fig. 2). The wall buttresses were reconstructed at points where the elements were sufficient for reconstruction (north-western corner - SU 082 and SU 086) and along the entire northern side of the wall (SU 082), up to square E7, where the original Gothic intervention was imitated on the Romanesque architecture (SU 084). In conservation works the Gothic intervention - repair of a part of the original Romanesque wall, damaged as early as the Middle Ages (probably due to poor statics situated on low-quality bedrock) was presented (Fig. 3).