Spiš Castle by Marina Miller

The Castle Today

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

After preservation, the castle serves as a museum, and, at the same time, as an exhibited item. The large lower ward has been opened to the visitors who can learn about the history of this part of the castle, admire the preserved ramparts, towers, barbican, the small Jiskra's fortress, but also the ancient objects from the turn of our millennium. In the upper castle, the chapel is opened to the public, housing a small museum with collections concerning the castle and its environs, then an interesting collection of arms and armors and an exposition of medieval justice - placed in the rooms of the old chapel. There is a magnificent view from the castle to its surroundings. To the North there is an archaeological site Nemešany-Zálužany, where the landlord's farm buildings from the 13th -15th centuries have been discovered. In the castle's vicinity is a travertine hill Sivá Brada with a chapel on top of it and a source of mineral water. The locality is a State Nature's Reserve.

http://www.slovakheritage.org/Unesco/spiscastle.htm

Background

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

After ten years of archaeological research, the history of the castle really fell into place. The current circle tower, roman palace, and other parts of the upper part of the castle were built at the beginning of the 13th century once Belo IV realized that castles were very effective in the defense against the Tatars. He instructed the local administrator to build a tower and a palace at the Spiš Castle in 1249. This was the history of the palace that was built as the first additional building next to the castle. Many battles took place at the castle at that time, especially in the second half of the 13th century. The castle became the center of the county. It was a seat of many important nobles. For instance, in 1275 it was a seat of a noble Roland who revolted against the king. Later Queen Elisabeth Kumánska, mother of Ladislav IV, owned the castle. The struggle for the castle ownership was the reason of many fights in the 14th century. Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, the most powerful noble at that time, aimed to conquer the castle in 1312 - without success. As a result, the castle was enlarged and rebuilt in the Gothic style shortly after. Ján Jiskra from Brandýs gained the Spiš castle in 1443 while fighting for the rights of Ladislav Pohrobok. Firstly he got a small fortress build at the slope bellow the castle. Later he decided to build a large courtyard. An important breaking point in the history of the castle was the year 1464, when the king donated the castle to the nobles Imrich and Stephan Zápoľský. It is interesting that although the Zápoľský family owned more than 70 castles, the Spiš castle was their seat. They modernized and built a chapel, heightened and thickened the tower, and rebuilt the roman palace in the Gothic style. Ján Zápoľský, the last king before Habsburgs, was also born at the castle. Three years after (in 1531) they donated the castle to Alexius Turzo. The Turzo family rebuilt it in the Renaissance style. After their male successors died out in 1636, the Csáky family owned the castle till 1945. They lived in the castle only till the end of the 17-th century. Just a small military unit stayed at the castle. They left in 1780 after it burned down. From that time forward the castle became a ruin. It has gone under repair and reconstruction for the few past years after long detailed research. The lower courtyard was open to public in 1983.

http://www.spisskyhrad.sk/en.html

Location, Location, Location

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Located in the lands of Spis, the north-western region of Eastern Slovakia, Spišský hrad or Spis Castle is one of the most beautiful ancient castles of Slovakia. It is known as one of the largest castles of Central Europe, as well as one of the castles of the highest location.

An Overview

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Film Star

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Several movies like Dragonheart or The Last Legion were filmed here

Another Name for the Castle

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Spišský hrad

History Tidbit

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

In 1780, the castle burned down. It is not known how it burned down, but there are a few theories. One is that the Csáky family purposely burned it down to reduce taxes (no roofs back then meant no taxes). Another is that it was struck by lightning, which started the fire. A third is that some soldiers there were making moonshine and managed to burn the castle. Whatever the case, after the fire, the castle was no longer occupied and began to fall into disrepair. The castle was partly reconstructed in the second half of the 20th century, and extensive archaeological research was carried out on the site. The reconstructed sections house displays of the Spiš Museum and things inside it, such as torture devices used in the castle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spi%C5%A1_Castle

Fun Fact

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Spis is said to be Slovakia's most famous castle ruin and is now among the largest castle complexes on the continent, covering near 10 acres.

The Features

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Middle Courtyard:

If we come back to the middle courtyard and steeply ascent through the gate to a roman courtyard (it was swamped before the archaeological research), we will notice ruins of a local administrator palace, foundations of a mill and a small "cave" cut in stone. On the other side, there is well preserved roman gate, through which we can get to the upper part of the Spiš castle. Later, one more gate was added. It was possible to get to the gate only through a wooden construction. Nowadays the gate seems to end in the "air". The upper part of the castle is of course the oldest and the most precious. In the stone opposite to the entrance, there is a small cistern. It is connected with surface only by a narrow opening. On the right side, in front of the above-mentioned roman gate, you can notice stonewalls from the 18th century. Opposite, there were originally Gothic and renaissance houses of castle owners.In the middle, there is a "donjon" - a circle tower from the 13th century. Originally it was open only in the first floor. Behind the tower, you will notice a circle shaped wall, that was deemed to be a ruin of the cistern. Behind the chapel, there is the most precious part of the castle - a massive, 3-floor roman palace, rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 15-16th century.

Possible Floor Plan

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

It was very difficult to find a floor plan for this castle, however, I found one in Slovakian that just might be the Spis Castle.

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

The Features

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

The Entrance: Nowadays lonely standing stone columns, they were originally connected with wooden girders and thus created the first defense line. Behind them, there was a deep ditch, then a high wall in front of the 15th century Gothic entrance gate. This gate could be closed by a hoist-bridge or by a strong iron falling grillage. In the center of the middle courtyard there was a house of the main guard. Houses of other guards were situated along the walls and granaries were at the back of the courtyard. On the left side, through a strong gate you would get to a large lower courtyard. It was used not only for castle troops, but it could also be used as a safe place for the local population. In its lower part, there still can be seen foundations of a round object. A massive ditch and a wooden palisade surrounded it. Occasionally it was used as gun storage. After the walls of the courtyard were built, the tower lost its original function of a fortress.

More on Visiting

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:45 UTC

Traveling to Spis

mcmiller0215 — 2017-02-14 04:03:46 UTC