Heading northeast from Našice brings you swiftly to Valpovo, a market town which grew up around the medieval castle of the Morović clan. The castle was strengthened by the Ottoman Turks, who left the red-brick, horseshoe-shaped fortifications in pretty good condition when they were ridden out of town by the Austrians in 1687. In 1721 the Habsburg court awarded the town to the Tyrolean family of Hilleprand von Prandau, who governed Valpovo as absentee landlords until Josip Ignatz Hilleprand von Prandau (1749-1816) decided to abandon the hurly-burly of Viennese life and settled here for good. Using the existing fortress as the nucleus of his palace, Josip Ignatz added a neoclassical façade topped by a clock tower, whose creamy-pink colour scheme is still in fabulous condition. Passing through the tunnel-like gate beneath the clocktower brings you into an attractive cobbled courtyard overlooked by a sandcastle-shaped medieval tower and a whitewashed gothic chapel. The Valpovo Regional Museum (Muzej Valpovštine), tel. +385-31 65 06 39. Open 08:00 - 15:00, Mon, Thu 15:00 - 19:00. Closed Sat, Sun. June - September 15 Open 10:00 - 12:00, Mon, Thu 16:00 - 20:00, Sat 10:00 - 13:00, Sun on request. Admission 5 - 10kn. The Museum has got a permanent display of the Prandau – Normann family. They might be able to open up the tower and the chapel for you if you make an appointment in advance.
In front of the palace a stone bridge leads across the former moat to the castle park, a perfectly preserved 19th century landscaped affair rich in deciduous trees.