Slanec Castle Ruins

Slanec, Slovakia

Slanec Castle is situated on the hilltop above the village. The exact date of construction is unknown but it was probably built after the Mongol invasion. It is thought to be originated in the Árpád era. The oldest authentic mention can be found in a charter of the chapter of Eger from 1303, when the sons and descendants of Szalánczi I Péter (Petri de Zalanch) shared the castle and other possessions.

Next it is mentioned in the 1330s, when ten successors of the Szalánczy family traded Slanec Castle and the estate belonging to it with a Drugethfamily ancestor with the permission of King Charles Robert. The Gereni branch of the Drugeth family owned Slanec Castle until its extinction.From the Gereni branch of the Drugeth family, Miklós III, the supremus comes of Ung County and ban of Szörény married one of his daughters toLászló Telegdy. Thereafter Slanec Castle became Telegdy’s possession through marriage. László Telegdy’s daughter, Anna married László Losonczy, banof Slavonia, and so the Losonczy family soon took possession of the Slanec Castle from the Telegdy family.

In the first half of the 15th century, Hussites settled in Upper Hungary and occupied the castle. The troops of János Hunyadi chased themaway in 1448. In the 1490s the Losonczy family rebuilt the castle. After the extinction of the Losonczy family, Rudolf II donated the castle to BaronZsigmond Forgách de Ghymes in 1601.

István Bocskai occupied it in 1605, but after the Treaty of Vienna and Bocskai’s death it returned to Zsigmond Forgách. It was inherited by his son, Ádám, who was appointed chief commander of Košice in 1643. A year later, on 4th March, 1644, he gave up Košice without fight to George I Rákóczi, who took part in the Thirty Years’ War as an ally of Sweden and France. However, he escaped to Ferdinand III in Vienna, whom he informed about the composition of Rákóczi’s army and plans and took part in the initial fight against him. Nevertheless, the Transylvanian troops defeated him at the battle at Slanec and then burned the castle down in 1644. In the following decades, the castle changed hands several times. Occasionally it was held by anti-Habsburg rebels or by the emperor’s troops, and in the meantime it suffered significant damage.

Imre Thököly occupied the castle in 1678, and later signed a ceasefire with Leopold I. As a consequence the imperial troops invaded. General Count JakabLestie, the president of the war cabinet and commander in Upper Hungary destroyed the castle in 1679. Since then it has been lying in ruins. Today the owner and operator of Szalánc Castle is the municipality of Slanec.

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Address

Pod hradom 23, Slanec, Slovakia
See all sites in Slanec

Details

Founded: 13th century
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Slovakia

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Alena Gogova (4 months ago)
The castle is undergoing reconstruction, so beware it is a very quick visit as currently there is nowhere to enter. There are a couple of picnic tables with benches. Stunning landscape all around.
Balázs Turai (6 months ago)
good view, romantic ruins. the trail is 1,5 km from the park below, not very hard.
Svetlana Fesenko (8 months ago)
The castle itself is small and in poor condition, there is not much to see. But the view from the top is simply amazing! Definitely worth a visit, especially since the journey to it takes about 15 minutes.
Andrew Evans (17 months ago)
Nice walk, steep sections but well worth the effort to get up to the top for the views.
Saimiz9 (2 years ago)
Soo interesting!!
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