Slovak Castle

1. Slovak Castle • Bojnice Castle • Bratislava Castle • Devín Castle • The manor house Betliar • Spiš Castle • The Krásna Hôrka Castle • The manor house Strážky • Castle of Trenčín • Orava Castle • Castle of Budatín

2. Bojnice Castle • The gem of Bojnice is the ”fairy-tale” Bojnice Castle, one of the most visited and most beautiful castles not only in Slovakia, but also in central Europe. The Castle stands on a large travertine monticule on the site of medieval castle from the 11th century. In the past, the most famous Hungarian noble families owned it and the last of them was the family of Pálffy. Count Ján Pálffy had the structure reconstructed by the architect J. Hubert from Budapest at the end of the 19th century following the pattern of romantic castles of the Loire in central France. The typical silhouette of the romantic image of medieval castle is enhanced by steep roofs of the palace, chapel and towers.

3. Bratislava Castle • The monumental building of Bratislava Castle is visible from a great distance. Certainly, every visitor of Bratislava notices the pronounced silhouette. The majestic impression is enhanced by the hill it stands on some eighty-five metres above the water level of the Danube. It was an important fortified settlement in the last third of the 9th century as it is mentioned in the Salzburg annals in relation to a bloody battle between the Bavarians and early Magyars. First, there was a pre-Romanesque stone palace in the 11th and 12th centuries. Generous reconstruction of the castle started in 1423 during the rule of Sigismund of Luxembourg. The result of this reconstruction was a Gothic castle referred to in literature as a Sigismunds castle.

4. Devín Castle • Devín Castle standing on a massive rock hill above the confluence of the Danube and Morava is an unusually impressive landmark. It is part of the oldest history of Slovakia. Its ground plan is very irregular. Today we enter the castle through the western Moravian Gate. The southern gate protected by a pair of semicircular bastions was built in the 15th century on an older Great Moravian rampart. • Close behind the gate and on the right side of the path is a precious archaeological monument from the Roman period of Devíns history. The ground plan of the remains of a bulky stone building from the 4th century suggests a Classical tomb.  

5. The manor house of Betliar • North-west of Rožňava in the east of Slovakia, in the valley of the Slaná river is the two-storied manor houseBetliar with four corner towers. It is a stately hunting manor surrounded by a wonderful English park with romantic structures including an artificial cave and waterfall Its interior is equally interesting, as it contains a picture gallery, musical and hunting halls, a library, antique furniture and exotic collections. Its reconstruction won the recognition of EUROPA NOSTRA.

6. Spiš Castle In the  eastern horizon of Spišské Podhradie towers the Spiš Castle. As a National Cultural Monument, Spiš Castle with its area of more than four ha, and partially in ruins, is one of the largest castle compounds in Central Europe.  Spiš Castle was included in the UNESCO list of monuments belonging to the world cultural heritage in 1993. Construction of the medieval castle on a travertine hill dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. The oldest written reference to the castle is from 1120. At the beginning it was a boundary fort placed at the northern frontier of an early feudal Old Hungarian state. Afterwards, it became the seat of the head of the Spiš region for many centuries.  

7. The Krásna Hôrka Castle • The Krásna Hôrka Castle is situated east of Rožňava. It stands on top of the conspicuous denuded mountain, which dominates in the Rožňavská kotlina basin. The main attraction though is the embalmed body of Sophia Andrássy-Serédy lying in the chapel. Writer Mór Jókai used the motif of the mummy in his novel The White Lady of Levoča. The original Gothic castle was built around 1320. The courtyard of the upper part of a rather small castle with triangle-shaped ground plan still survives. Fortifications were added to castle in time of the Turkish threat. It was when the interior of the castle was also made more habitable and when it acquired the form as we know it now. Fortifications including three canon bastions and a cannon terrace are in the Renaissance style.

8. The manor house Strážky • The local part of Spišská Belá - Strážky in the east of Slovakiatoday represents a complete compound of cultural and historical monuments. The manor house in Strážky is a gem of the Renaissance architecture in Slovakia. The manor was built on foundations of Gothic castle allegedly constructed on ruins of Knights Templar monastery. It is one of the oldest in Slovakia. Owners of the Gothic castle, the noble family Horváth-Stansith of Croatia, gradually rebuilt it into a Renaissance manor. In 1588, Gregor Horváth-Stansith established a humanistic school in this family residence and continued in reconstruction of the manor in the years 1618 to 1628. It was then that the manor acquired the appearance, as we know it now. The original three-winged building was completed after fire in 1708 following a typical square-shaped ground plan with a square inner courtyard.

9. Castle of Trenčín • The Castle of Trenčín built on top of a steep rock is undoubtedly the dominant of the town Trenčín and the region of Považie. The Castle, which is along with those of Spiš and Devín one of the biggest in Europe, is the National Cultural Monument. It was the royal castle from the 11th century. The bulky fortifying system is the result of progressive perfection of an important boundary fort, later seat of the county.  

10. Orava Castle • The most attractive tourist locality of the northern Slovakia is the Orava Castle lying on the river Orava near the village Oravský Podzámok, below impressive cliffs. In 1370, it became a county castle and the seat of the Orava Castle estate, which included almost the whole region of Orava. The castle, much like others in Slovakia, stands on the site of old wooden forts and it was constructed after the Tartar invasion in 1241. Originally, it was built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles and later reconstructed in the Renaissance and Neo-Gothic styles.

11. Castle of Budatín • The Castleof Budatín with strategic position on the confluence of the Váh and Kysuca rivers is a dominant of Žilina. Exhibition of tinkers trade products in the Castle of Budatín is the only of the kind in the world. In the past, it was mentioned as the toll point. Construction of the Castle dates to the second half of the 13th century. Its oldest part is the bulky four-storied Romanesque tower with elements of the Early Gothic architecture, which was later adapted in the Renaissance style. It stands on the site of disappeared water castle. It guarded the important trade road leading to Silesia. At the beginning it was the royal property, later it was owned by several noble families including the Csákys who had it reconstructed in the years 1922-23.  

12. The End  • WEB: • www.google.sk • www.slovakia.travel • Martin Leško