Konjščina

Konjščina is a Zagorje municipal centre at 168 metres above sea level, directly connected by rail with Zagreb, Zabok and Varaždin. Its character combines an industrial past with the legacy of the Counts of Konjski, whose name survives in the settlement, the fortress and the local Gradina mountaineering club. Konjščina’s Old Castle occupies low ground between branches of the Selnica stream, and its Late Gothic remains are an uncommon example of a surviving lowland stronghold in Hrvatsko zagorje. The site is tied to the battle of May 1545, when Nikola Šubić Zrinski and Juraj Wildenstein withdrew into the fort ahead of Ottoman troops. In the centre, the Baroque parish church of St Dominic, dating from 1734, forms a separate ecclesiastical stop. The railway station also marks the beginning of the 21.65-kilometre Konjščina–Ivanščica hiking route, opened in 1984 and climbing 892 metres. Konjščina can thus support either a short historical outing around the castle or a demanding full-day ascent towards Zagorje’s highest summit.

Medieval records refer to Konjščina as Selnica, while its present name preserves the memory of the landowning Konjski family. Their Late Gothic stronghold was built not on a typical Zagorje hill but on marshy ground between two branches of the Selnica stream, giving it a distinctive lowland setting. The surrounding area became a battlefield in May 1545, when Croatian forces faced Ottoman troops and Zrinski and Wildenstein sought shelter inside the fort. The Baroque Church of St Dominic, built in 1734, anchors the historic centre. More recent Konjščina was shaped by the Jertovec thermal power plant, a foundry and energy-equipment manufacturing, creating an unusual overlap of feudal, industrial and mountaineering heritage.