The Old Town of Dubovac, one of the most attractive and best preserved architectural monuments of the feudal age lies on a hill above Karlovac.
Dubovac was named after the once existing oak (dub) forest that surrounded it, and the name was subsequently transferred to a contemporary city neighborhood on the outskirts of Karlovac. Just as they used to say in the 16th century, “Karlovac under Dubovac”, because Dubovac was older and better known, so to this day the castle on the hill above the Kupa River is the most prominent landmark of the cultural and historical landscape of Karlovac, with a view of it opening up from the highway.
On the site of the present-dayfort, there are still traces of an Early Stone Age settlement, while the castle was built at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. Over the centuries, it was in the possession of various noble families, the longest period of ownership being from 1442 to 1550 when it was owned by the Frankopans, which is when it obtained its present appearance: a mixture of Renaissance and Gothic architecture. Right up until the construction of Karlovac, Dubovac was frequently besieged by the Turks but never fell into enemy hands.