Zaprice Mansion, Manor house in Kamnik, Slovenia
Zaprice Mansion is a mansion in Zaprice, now part of Kamnik, Slovenia, first indirectly mentioned in 1306 and built in the 14th century by the Dienger von Apecz family. Jurij Lamberg rebuilt it in the early 16th century with corner oriel windows and a wall with two towers, naming it Steinbüchel. It was later rebuilt in Baroque style and enlarged. Since 1961 it has housed the Kamnik Intermunicipal Museum.
The castle was first indirectly mentioned in 1306 and was originally built in the 14th century by the Dienger von Apecz family. In the mid-16th century, Jurij Lamberg rebuilt it with corner oriel windows and surrounded it with a wall with two towers, giving it the German name Steinbüchel. It was later rebuilt in Baroque style and enlarged into a more comfortable residence.
The German name Steinbüchel, given by Jurij Lamberg in the 16th century, survives in the Slovene form Zaprice used today. In the 16th century the mansion was a gathering place for Kamnik's Lutherans. Valvasor's depiction records the appearance of Lamberg's Renaissance mansion, which was smaller than the present building and nearly square in plan.
The museum occupies the mansion itself, with a lapidary of Roman tombstone fragments under the arcades at the entrance. The terraced park and wall surround the building, and the open-air museum of granaries from the Tuhinj Valley stands on the lawn in front. The salon hosts openings, lectures and concerts.
The 1964 trial digs beside the mansion uncovered the foundations of an older tower-like residence of the Dienger von Apecz family, along with Roman walls. A bronze fibula with onion-shaped ends and fragments of ancient glass from the same layer point to a late antique structure on the slope, predating the medieval mansion.
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