Spis Castle, Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia

The ruins of Spiš Castle (Spišský hrad) is one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1993 (together with the adjacent locations of Spišská Kapitula, Spišské Podhradie and Žehra).

Spiš Castle was built in the 12th century on the site of an earlier castle. It was the political, administrative, economic and cultural centre of Szepes County of the Kingdom of Hungary. Before 1464, it was owned by the kings of Hungary, afterwards (until 1528) by the Zápolya family, the Thurzó family (1531–1635), the Csáky family (1638–1945), аnd (since 1945) by the state of Czechoslovakia then Slovakia.

Originally a Romanesque stone castle with fortifications, a two-story Romanesque palace and a three-nave Romanesque-Gothic basilica were constructed by the second half of the 13th century. A second extramural settlement was built in the 14th century, by which the castle area was doubled. The castle was completely rebuilt in the 15th century; the castle walls were heightened and a third extramural settlement was constructed. A late Gothic chapel was added around 1470. The Zápolya clan performed late Gothic transformations, which made the upper castle into a comfortable family residence, typical of late Renaissance residences of the 16th and 17th centuries. The last owners of the Spiš Castle, the Csáky family, abandoned the castle in the early 18th century because they considered it too uncomfortable to live in. They moved to the newly built nearby village castles/palaces in Hodkovce near Žehra and Spišský Hrhov.

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 stuck 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.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Janek Utko (21 months ago)
Awesome view of castle and landscape from far. Not a common place to be!

Panda Mellor (21 months ago)
An impressive behemoth of a castle - grand ruins indeed. Wonderful to see from a distance at night too when lit up.

BO HYUN Kim (2 years ago)
It was nice place. Normally I don't expect much from castle in this region but this time it is really worth to visit. Highly recommend.

Ori Shahar (2 years ago)
Very nice attraction, you can get a recorder with all the stations explained and walk at your own pace (don't remember all the language options unfortunately but English is there at least). Beautiful view and the remains themselves are very interesting with a lot of history. Recommended for everyone, if not for the castle's history then at least for the view and great pictures.

Dor s (2 years ago)
Nice old castle, the road to the castle is tight so drive carefully. The parking is free and the view from here is nice, but It seems that the information is incorrect - I came at 5 PM and the castle was close, so You may check the opening hours before coming.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Maciek Lulko

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