Kalnik

The mountain is a place that attracts hikers, climbers, paragliders and other excursionists. To the west of the Old Town of Veliki Kalnik is the Kalnik mountain lodge at 480 m above sea level, with the possibility of accommodation and meals. An asphalted road leads to it from Kalnik. Many hiking trails and paths lead to various hiking destinations from the mountain lodge. In 1996, the Educational Trail on Kalnik was built and opened in June.
On the rocks of the old Old Town of Veliki Kalnik and on the rocks north of the mountain lodge (7 zubi), there are hundreds of climbing routes, and paragliders take off from the plateau near the TV tower and the plateau west of the peak of Vranilec. To the east of the town of Veliko Kalnik, a rocky, mostly forested ridge called Kalnička greda stretches for about 4.5 kilometers, with the peaks of Vuklec (572 m), Podrevec (547 m) and Škrinja. Vuklec is a rocky peak covered with dense vegetation in the western part. There is a rocky peak called Podrevec around half of Kalnička greda, there is a marked access to it from the path to Škrinja. The lowest peak of Škrinja (about 500 m) in the easternmost part of the Kalnička greda is an 80-meter-long, bare, rocky ridge with beautiful views. There is access to it from the village mill in the village of Kalnik and from the mountain lodge on Kalnik.
To the east of Kalnička Greda is the long passage Vratno, which consists of the remains of the former village, the hunting house Vratno (a former log cabin) and Rinkov (an old lime factory). An old Roman road runs through Vratno, which cuts the ridge of the mountain deep to the north, from the initial 200 meters, all the way to above 350 meters.

About three hours and thirty minutes’ walk, east of the Old Town of Veliki Kalnik, mineral water springs up near the village of Apatovec – Apatovečko vrelo, which today is filled under the name Kala i Kalnička from the springs of Kalnik, and to the north are the Varaždinske Toplice, which all says that there are active rocks under the mountain. Of the total area of the municipality of 26.34 km², more than 50% of the area is occupied by forests, and the rest is meadows, pastures, arable land and mountain massif. Most of the territory of the municipality of Kalnik is located at an altitude of 300 meters, which is a feature of the hilly area, with the lowest point being 179m, and the highest 643m with a height amplitude of 464m. Almost 70% of the territory is located at an altitude higher than 400 m, and therefore has specific climatic conditions. Most of the municipality of Kalnik is covered by a protected landscape, as determined by the Spatial Plan of Koprivnica-Križevci County.

History
The area of Kalnik has been inhabited for more than 3000 years. The oldest known findings of human presence in this area were found at the site of Igrišće, a glade located below the highest peak of Vranilac, and date back to the Bronze Age. The settlement of Kalnik was created in the Middle Ages, in the XIII century. century, as a suburb (suburbuium) below the Veliki Kalnik fort, and at that time it was called Brezovica. In 1367, Brezovica received the status of “royal city” from King Ludovic of Anjou, which was granted to it during the 14th century. century has been confirmed several times. Since it was exempted from the authority of the lord of the Veliki Kalnik fortress, Brezovica served as an administrative center for the Kalnik single-settlement nobles (iobagiones uni sesionis). Brezovica experienced its peak of development at the turn of the 15th century. in the 16th century, but already in the second half of the 16th century, its importance was declining due to the growing Turkish threat that affected the entire Podkalnica region. Later, from the XVII. century onwards, Brezovica, i.e. Kalnik, will be only one of the larger settlements in the vicinity of Križevci.