Gradac Castle

"On a low hill by the Lahinja is the Gradac Castel. In the old days, on a dark night, the Ottomans attacked Gradac and its castle. Thunder rumbled throughout the Bela Krajina basin. Flashes of lightning streaked from the dark sky as the brave Janissaries swam across the Lahinja River and stormed the walls of the old castle.
By nightfall, the castle servants had already raised the castle's drawbridge, closed the castle gates, and retired to rest. Thinking that no one would molest them in the night, they soon fell asleep. The Ottomans, however, crept up to the walls in the dead of night, put up ladders, and began to scurry around the castle.
The defensive tower, where the castle servants slept, was full of rats, which, alarmed by the marauding Janissaries, scattered in all directions and woke up the castle geese with their squeals. The geese let out a great cry. At the last moment, all the castle folk woke up and attacked besieging Ottoman. After a short struggle, they drove the guests into a wild flight.
In gratitude and to commemorate the fortunate rescue of the castle from the Ottoman onslaught, the Count had the image of a rat and a goose carved into his coat of arms, and you can still see it carved in the stone above the front gate of the castle." (Lojze Zupanc)

The castle is one of the best-preserved castles in Bela Krajina and has been declared a monument of national importance. The castle was first mentioned in the first half of the 14th century, but its present appearance dates from the first half of the 19th century. In the past, the castle had a beautifully designed park on the outskirts, which still contains a tomb with a stone sarcophagus. The park behind the castle was built by the Gusič family in the 17th century.

There is also a story about the daughter of a landowner and the miller's son and their forbidden love. The story was turned into the world's first tambourine opera, which premiered in 2019 at the Cultural Centre Semič.