Beckov Castle
| Beckov Castle | ||
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 Panorama of the castle |
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| Creation time : | ? 12. century | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, rocky location | |
| Conservation status: | partially renovated | |
| Place: | Beckov , Slovakia | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 47 '27 " N , 17 ° 53' 53" E | |
| Height: | 245 m nm | |
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The Beckov Castle ( Slovak hrad Beckovský or Beckov , older names: Blundus , Bolondos ) is the partially restored ruins of a rock castle in the western Slovakia , on a high rock above the same community . The castle ruins in Inowetz ( Považský Inovec in Slovak ) above the Waag are a clearly visible dominant feature of the area with their silhouette and are a national cultural monument of Slovakia .
history
The castle is mentioned in the Gesta Hungarorum around 1200 as "old"; According to archaeological research, the first settlement is said to date from the late Latène period. A fort, together with a Slavic settlement, is said to have existed in the Great Moravia period in the late 9th century, which was later converted into a castle. At the beginning of the 13th century (mentioned in 1208 as castrum Blundix ) the castle, not far from the border between the Trenčín and Neutra counties and the border with Moravia , was a border castle of the Kingdom of Hungary . At that time the castle hill from a square tower with ramparts and a two-story consisted Palas .
At the turn of the 13th to 14th century, the castle came into the possession of the oligarch Matthäus Csák (for more on this see Hungarian minor kingdoms ), under whose rule it was further strengthened. After Matthew's death in 1321, it was administered by castellans for a long time before the then King Louis the Great gave it to Miklós Bánffy in 1379 in return for his fight in Italy and the Balkans. Only ten years later the castle was given to the noblewoman Stibor von Stiborice, who came from the Polish Ostoja family, as a donation from Sigismund von Luxemburg . Stibor was one of the most powerful aristocrats in the Kingdom of Hungary and owned 31 castles with associated estates at the beginning of the 15th century and had the center of his dominion at Beckov Castle. This position was reflected in the expansion: Stibor invited artists and carpenters from Venice, Bohemia, Poland and Germany to significantly expand the castle. During this expansion, the walls were raised, a barbican and the upper hall with a knight's hall and a chapel were built. The chapel, in the portal of which the coat of arms of the Stibor family was carved, was richly decorated with paintings and sculptures. In the altar there was a sculpture of the Black Madonna , which is now in Koryčany in Moravia.
Stibor's son, Stibor of Stiborice II, who inherited the property after his father's death in 1414, had no son and left the castle to their only daughter, Katarina. However, only a quarter of it was paid out in cash and the entire estate fell back to the crown. King Sigismund transferred the castle to Pál Bánffy in 1437, just one day before his death.
After the Hungarian defeat in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the danger of Turkish attacks increased significantly, so the Bánffy family had the castle converted into a Renaissance fortress and at the same time into a luxurious mansion. A cannon bastion was built in the lower forecourt and the buildings of the upper castle were combined under a Renaissance attic . In 1599 the Turks could not take the castle despite a siege.
After the death of Kristof Bánffy in 1646, the castle was bequeathed to the remaining daughters, but they no longer maintained the castle, so that the castle was relegated to the role of a prison and a barracks. The fire of 1729 destroyed most of the buildings and since then the castle has been unused and abandoned. In 1970 it was declared a national cultural monument and preserved until the end of the 20th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hrady Slovenska - Beckov ( Memento of the original of December 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Národná Obroda (Slovak), accessed April 13, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Kollár, Jaroslav Nešpor: Castles . Most Beautiful Ruins (= Cultural Heritage of Slovakia ). 1st edition. Dajama, Bratislava 2007, ISBN 978-80-89226-42-9 , p. 36-39 (English).
Web links
- Description on hrady.sk (Slovak)
- Description on zamky.sk (Slovak)