Legend of the Turks' siege of Trakošćan

The small salon was also a place were stories were told from the famed past of the Drašković family, as well as legends from the castle's history. One of these is a legend about wasps that drove away the Turks from under Trakošćan.

The legend says: "Once upon a time, the Turkish army besieged Trakošćan. The Turks vigorously attacked and their cannons fired at the fortress. Below, in one of the towers, the wasps had established a nest. A cannonball was hurled from somewhere into their midst and they became instantly agitated. They put out their stings and flew towards the Turks. No cannon could help the Turks. The wasps particularly assailed the Turkish pasha, who had just sat down to enjoy his roasted rooster for lunch.

There was an old hag of more than a hundred years of age. She had been accused of being a witch and imprisoned in the tower. Next to her there was a full bag of wheat from which the hag took a fist-full, mumbled something over the tiny wheat grains and threw them out of the window. As she steadily took one fist-full after another, the grains turned into angry wasps and hornets that joined the ones from the nest.

The pasha mounted his swift horse and fled, and was soon followed by the rest of the Turks who all quickly disappeared behind the hills“.