Spiš Castle

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the place, where you can see the Spiš castle, the centre of Spiš region.
Spiš ranks about the most remarkable Slovak regions. It covers the north western part of the East Slovakia region. It is rich not only in natural beauties but also in the preserved medieval art-historical monuments, mostly from the Gothic period.
Since the 12th century the country is dominated by the Spiš castle, the seat of the high-ranking Hungarian aristocratic families. The castle has been the symbol of the Spiš Region. It belongs to the largest of that sort in Europe.

The Spiš castle is situated on a limestone cliff 634 m above sea level. It is situated on the crossroads of medieval merchant routes connecting north with the south and east with the west Europe.
The rock on which it was built had been inhabited already since the early Stone Age. The most intensive colonisation here took place at the beginning of A.D. by the people of the so called Púchov culture, most probably by the Dacian, Celtic and other tribes.
The beginning of the present-day castle dates back to the first half of the 12th century. The first building which was built here was a huge, round tower, but it expires in the 13th century. At the time the new tower and the Romanesque Palace was built here.
In 1241, the Spiš castle was besieged by Tatars but held. After the Tatars withdrew, the King Belo IV. started supporting the castles. In 1249, the Spiš provost was given the castle.

In 14th century the castle was renewed to the Gothic style. In 1460, the castle was donated by the King to the Zápoľský brothers – Štefan and Imrich. Though the Zápoľský family owned several other castles, they considered the Spiš castle as their seat. Ján Zápoľský, the last pre-Habsburg Hungarian King was born here as well. Since he lost his battle of the Crown with Ferdinand Habsurg, the castle was besieged.
In 1780 the castle burnt out and after the fire its last inhabitans left it. Since that time the castle was gradually changing into a ruin. In 1961, the castle was declared a National Cultural Monument, and the efforts for its rescue started. Now it´s a seat of the Museum Spiš castle.
Thank you for your attention, if you have any questions, I´ll be glad to answer it.