The ruins of Spiš Castle (Slovak : Spišský hrad, ⓘ ; Hungarian : Szepesi vár; Polish : Zamek Spiski; German : Zipser Burg) in eastern Slovakia belong to six largest castles sites in Slovakia. [1] The castle is situated above the town of Spišské Podhradie and the village of Žehra, in the region known as Spiš (Hungarian : Szepes, German: Zips, Polish : Spisz, Latin : Scepusium). It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1993 (together with the adjacent locations of Spišská Kapitula and Žehra). The size of the castle area is 3,9 ha (39,000 m2). It is administered by the Spiš Museum at Levoča, a division of the Slovak National Museum.
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 Kingdom of Hungary. Afterwards, it became the seat of the head of Szepes county for many centuries. [2] It was the political, administrative, economic and cultural center of Szepes County [3] of the Kingdom of Hungary. Before 1464, it was owned by the kings of Hungary, until the time of King Matthias Corvinus, then (until 1528) by the Zápolya family, the Thurzó family (1531–1635), the Csáky family (1638–1945), and (since 1945) by the state of Czechoslovakia and 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 thirteenth century. A second extramural settlement was built in the fourteenth century, by which the castle area was doubled. The castle was completely rebuilt in the fifteenth 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 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The last owners of the Spiš Castle, the Csáky family, abandoned the castle in the early eighteenth 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 was destroyed in a fire. [4] The cause of the blaze is unknown, but there are a few theories. One is that the Csáky family purposefully burned it down to reduce taxes as at the time additional taxes applied to roofed buildings. Another is that it was struck by lightning, which started the fire. A third is that some soldiers in the castle were making moonshine and in the process accidentally started the fire. 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 twentieth century, and extensive archaeological research was carried out on the site. The reconstructed sections house displays of the Spiš Museum, which is responsible for managing the castle, [5] and artefacts such as torture devices formerly used in the castle.
Spiš is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland. Spiš is an informal designation of the territory, but it is also the name of one of the 21 official tourism regions of Slovakia. The region is not an administrative division in its own right, but between the late 11th century and 1920 it was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Levoča is the principal town of Levoča District in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia, with a population of 14,256. The town has a historic center with a well-preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the tallest wooden altar in the world, carved by Master Pavol of Levoča, and many other Renaissance buildings.
Orava Castle is a castle situated on a high rock above Orava river in the village of Oravský Podzámok, Slovakia. The castle was built in the Kingdom of Hungary, with the oldest parts being built in the thirteenth century and the most recent parts in the early seventeenth century. Many scenes of the 1922 film Nosferatu were filmed here, the castle representing Count Orlok's Transylvanian castle.
Trebišov is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machine (Vagónka) and building materials industries.
The Zipser Germans, Zipser Saxons, or, simply, just Zipsers are a German-speaking sub-ethnic group in Central-Eastern Europe and national minority in both Slovakia and Romania. Along with the Sudeten Germans, the Zipser Germans were one of the two most important ethnic German groups in the former Czechoslovakia. An occasional variation of their name as 'Tzipsers' can also be found in academic articles. Former Slovak President Rudolf Schuster is partly Zipser German and grew up in Medzev.
Stará Ľubovňa is a town with approximately 16,000 inhabitants in northeastern Slovakia. The town consists of the districts Podsadek and Stará Ľubovňa.
Tourism in Slovakia offers natural landscapes, mountains, caves, medieval castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and ski resorts.
Spišská Kapitula is an exceptionally well-preserved ecclesiastical town on the outskirts of Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia, and overlooking Spiš Castle. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Levoča, Spiš Castle and the associated cultural monuments".
Spišský Hrhov is a municipality and village in the Spiš region of Slovakia, between Levoča and Spišské Podhradie in Levoča District. It has a population of 1800, of which 350 are Roma, well integrated in the local community.
Žehra is a village and municipality in the Spišská Nová Ves District in the Košice Region of central-eastern Slovakia.
Szepes was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, called Scepusium before the late 19th century. Its territory today lies in northeastern Slovakia, with a very small area in southeastern Poland. For the current region, see Spiš.
Stará Lesná or "Old Forest" is a village and municipality in Kežmarok District in the Prešov Region in north-central Slovakia. Stará Lesná is located in an area traditionally known as Spiš and it is situated within the Slovak Tourism Region of the Tatras.
Niedzica Castle, also known as Dunajec Castle, is located in the southernmost part of Poland in Niedzica. It was erected between the years 1320 and 1326 by Kokos of Brezovica on the site of an ancient stronghold surrounded by earthen walls in the Pieniny mountains.
The ruins of Spiš Castle is one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. The castle is situated above the town of Spišské Podhradie and the village of Žehra that with adjacent ecclesiastical town Spišská Kapitula form components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2009, the site was extended to include the famous altar by Master Paul of Levoča and the historic centre of Levoča with many well-preserved Renaissance buildings.
St Martin's Cathedral is a cathedral in Slovakia. It is located in the town of Spišská Kapitula and is the cathedral church of the Spiš diocese.
The Basilica of St. James is a Gothic church in Levoča, Prešovský kraj, Slovakia. Building began in the 14th century. It is a Catholic parish church, dedicated to James the Apostle.
The architecture of Slovakia has a long, rich and diverse history. Besides Roman ruins, Slovakia hosts several Romanesque and Gothic castles and churches, most notably Spiš Castle, which were built at the time of the Kingdom of Hungary. Renaissance architecture was of particular relevance in town hall squares, such as in Bardejov and Levoča. Affluent architecture in the following centuries made use of Baroque, Rococo and historicist styles, while vernacular architecture in the countryside developed a specific style of wooden houses and wooden churches. In the 20th century, Slovakia knew Art Nouveau and modernist architecture, including socialist modernism, and finally contemporary architecture.
The Province of 24 Szepes Towns, also known as the Union of 24 Szepes Towns, and until c. 1344, as the Community of Szepesian Saxons, and the Province of Szepesian Saxons, was a seat, an autonomous administrative division, within Szepes County, Kingdom of Hungary. It existed from 1271 to 1412. On 8 November 1412, with the Spiš Pledge, in which Hungary had pledged part of Szepes County to the Kingdom of Poland, with the province was divided into Province of 11 Szepes Towns in Hungary, and Province of 13 Spisz Towns in Poland.
The Province of 13 Spisz Towns was an autonomous administrative division of the Eldership of Spisz, that until 1568 belonged to the Kingdom of Poland, and since then to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Since 1772, it belonged to the Szepes County, Kingdom of Hungary.
Eldership of Spisz was a non-castle eldership territory of Kingdom of Poland from 1412 to 1569 and Lesser Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1772. Its seat was located in the Stará Ľubovňa. It was located in the Spiš, and its area consisted of a salient connected to the rest of the Kingdom of Poland, and 5 exclaves.