The 7 Best Things to do in Virovitica, Slavonia

Reviewed By periandro - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

The Virovitica Pejačević Castle is, together with St. Francis church, the most beautiful building in the mentioned town.I had already visited it on September 5th 2019. Inasmuch as on that date there were renovation and refurbishment works still in progress and the different items weren't properly placed and even some hadn't yet been brought inside the building I decided to visit it again on my next trip to Virovitica. That trip took place on March 5th 2020. It's a fabulous building in the center of the said city. It was built at the beginning of the nineteenth century on the same site where an erstwhile medieval castle stood. It's a really wonderful edifice in baroque classicist style whose contemplation is a great visual delight in all senses. The entrance is in its central part. In the building front that entrance encompasses a round arched portal located at the back of a porch which is marked on the opposite side by eight cylindrical columns with Corinthian order capitals, four on each side of the portal, which support a nice and artistic balustrade. There is no balustrade on the rear side. The façade is anyway stunning. The stated building central part is topped on the front upper storey with a pediment like semicircular architectural element, the form of the corresponding element at the rear side being triangular. In the middle of each one of the pediments there is a nice round window hole. The said central part of the Castle is on both sides adorned with six powerful pilasters which at its front are situated between the balustrade and the upper storey. The ensemble formed by the aforementioned parts and the rest of both outer façades with their marvellous windows is spectacular, thus worth of being contemplated for a while observing all relevant details thereof. As regards its interior, the divers collections integrated in the permanent exhibition are of different nature and altogether very illustrative as to some aspects concerning the history of the city, to wit its evolution and transformation as well as its culture, traditions, folk habits and attires and music. Down the basements one can learn about the origins of Virovitica on which there are thorough explanatory notes and maps. Besides, it's possible to observe some archaeological remains found in the Virovitica nearby area. Among other items there are some bowls, jars and vessels of different materials such as ceramic, glass and copper. Likewise in that section there are some garments and fans as well as china and glass food accessories dating back from the nineteenth century or the beginning of the twentieth. The castle interior may in fact be considered like a museum. It's very interesting to see the furniture, a sewing machine and other objects manufactured and utilized at the time referred to at the end of the previous paragraph. There is a room with a grand piano which is perhaps the most wonderful room in the castle. Its walls are decorated with stupendous paintings depicting some ancestors of the Pejačević family. Among others one can see there the portraits of Ana Marija, countess Pejačević, (1727 – 1794) and of Marko Aleksandar, baron Pejačević, (1694 – 1762). The rest of the decoration in that room is of an impeccable good taste, such as the porcelain coffee service set placed on a beautiful small round dark brown table with another colour wooden inlays in its board representing stylized foliage forms. In any case, the most beautiful element in that room is the grand piano placed by a large picture depicting some persons in an idyllic landscape, apparently members of the Pejačević family. When a visitor moves at a particular point of the room a sensor reacts thus triggering a wonderful piano piece of music, such as the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, what may make one have an indescribable feeling of enchantment. Apart from the foregoing, the rest of the items exhibited in the castle interior are basically some pieces of furniture calling out traditional habits, and consequently it's possible to see some reproductions of a rural room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom and rooms of other nature. Peculiar enough is a table on one half of which there are cutlery and tableware used at a dining room of a high class family dwelling house whereas on its other half there are pottery elements commonly used in the kitchen of the same house. Since both halves are separated by a two side mirror, the effect one feels when looking at the table and the mirror at the same time is that it's about a dining room or kitchen table as the case may be, contingent upon the side on which one stands and thus from which he looks at the table and the mirror, completely set in a symmetrical way. Other sections of the permanent exhibition refer to typical folk garments and clothing, clerical attires, such as cassocks, and other religious objects, such as statuettes and instruments. Likewise, on that place one can observe other type of ancient instruments, ethnological objects, such as agricultural and hunting implements, weapons and an array of interesting items which may make one feel delighted. On one of the walls there is a sample of a façade panel reproducing a typical design by a Virovitica architect named Edita Schubert. The curious thing about it is that when looking out of the front windows one sees a nice building by that architect lying on the other side of the road, Trg kraja Tomislava in whose façade the same geometric abstraction as that of the mentioned sample was implemented. The Castle is surrounded by a marvellous park which is much larger behind the building, onto which a very pleasant view can be enjoyed from its upper storeys back windows. Walking around that edifice on the park in warm and clement weather is also very agreeable. As it can be certainly realised, the Virovitica Pejačević castle is a superb monument whose outer part is a dazzling ensemble of beauty, art and taste, housing in its interior a large number of objects, some of which are masterpieces of a great value and quality. It's therefore a place whose visit can be considered a must while in Virovitica or in the relevant region.