- Type
- Ruin
- Origins
- 13th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Coordinates
- 48.7247°, 17.7608°
History
The castle on a limestone hill at the foot of the Little Carpathians was built in the 13th century to guard Hungary's border towards Moravia; in 1273 it was badly damaged by the army of the Bohemian king Ottokar II, and around 1300 it belonged to Matthew Csák. In the 16th century it passed to the Nádasdy family, and in 1575 Ferenc Nádasdy married Elizabeth Báthory, who ran his estates after his death in 1604. In 1610 she was accused of murdering many serving girls, and the palatine György Thurzó had her confined to rooms at Čachtice. She died there as a prisoner in 1614. In 1708 the castle was captured by the insurgents of Francis II Rákóczi, and after a fire in 1799 it fell into ruin; in recent years the walls have been stabilised and partly rebuilt.
What to see
A short climb from the village or the car park below the hill leads to the ruins. The walls of the upper castle with its gate survive, along with parts of the tower and palace and the lower courtyards, and the walls give views over the Váh valley and the ridges of the Little Carpathians. The hill is a national nature reserve protecting warmth-loving steppe plants. In the village, the 17th-century Drašković manor house, a branch of the Trenčín Museum, holds an exhibition on Elizabeth Báthory, with copies of her portraits and dresses, and on local winemaking.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q612364
Popularity: articles about this site in 26 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).