Galician castle

We learn about the existence of the restored castle only in connection with Ján Jiskr, when his troops occupied the castle and stayed here until 1451, when they were expelled by the army of Ján Hunyadi.

As a result of later unauthorized reconstructions, they had to destroy the fortress in 1544 by royal decree in order not to become a refuge for the insurgents. The manor house standing on a round hill was built in 1612 by Sigismund Forgách. After marrying Anna Losonczyová, he acquired the Galician, Sečian and Šomoš estates in the form of royal donations between 1595 and 1601, making him the largest magnate in Novohrad. Galicia Castle was built in the shape of a six-winged residence, which, however, in accordance with the needs of the "war" century, was fortified with corner bastions, moats and strengthened by 40 bastards and German artillery to protect the life and property of the family. The remains of a medieval castle were probably built into the entrance wing of the manor, which was also protected by a fortification fortified by two bastions equipped with shooting holes. The castle was at one time the center of border military operations, the manor and the administrative unit.

Imrich Thököly's hens tried to acquire the castle in 1678, but Adam Forgách remained loyal to Emperor Leopold. Castle captain Ján Makfalvay gave three cannons to Thököly from the castle to prevent an attack by the Kurucs. The military function of Galicia returned in 1703, after the outbreak of the Rákóczi Uprising. The castle was occupied in 1709 and burned by General Heister's army.

In 1736 to 1750, the subsequent Baroque reconstruction suppressed the defensive character of the chateau and turned the building into a representative manor house of the Forgách family. Another magnificent reconstruction of the chateau is linked to the name of František Wenckheim, who married into the family in the 19th century. The completion of the works in 1897 is evidenced by a white marble plaque located above the main entrance. The area of the fort was converted into a castle park.

The monumental restoration of the chateau was carried out in 1956 to 1964. After these years, it housed a social care facility. It has been in private hands since 2005, and in 2009 a magnificent reconstruction of the chateau began. In 2016, the castle was completed in the first stage of reconstruction and opened to the public as a luxury hotel.

Legends and myths
It's rumored

The robber knight Imrich Balassa, the owner of Divín Castle, was allegedly bred on strike milk. In the 17th century, therefore, he was considered a worn-out vagabond and thief in Novohrad. In the villages below Divín, he stole everything he could - cattle, year-round crops by peasants and immaculate virgins from the castle grounds. Balassa, however, made a "fondness" especially for the lady from the neighboring Galician castle, the beautiful Andrássy, the wife of the lord of Galician castle, Count Forgách. He broke into the castle with a gang of vagabonds and kidnapped the countess in his lair. Before her eyes, he threw his own wife and the monk who confessed her out the window, but he did not win the love of the young woman. It was the last piece of the bandit from Novohrad. It is not yet clear how the castle lord in Galicia got his wife back. It is said that he penetrated the wolf's lair of Balassa through a long-lived corridor, which allegedly connected Galicia Castle with Divín. The secret corridor at the castle in Galicia exists, but it barely reaches the middle of the castle hill and at first served only for secret envoys and sewers.

Interior and exterior
The newly renovated castle hotel Galicia Nueva, a real gem of Novohrad and a national cultural monument, has been providing services since the summer months of 2016. After a sensitive reconstruction, a representative space has entered for congress events, meetings, seminars, workshops, meetings , but also representative social events such as e.g. concerts, balls or openings.

From the defensive and residential side, the chateau was a modern six-wing building on a longitudinal hexagonal floor plan with a central courtyard. In the chateau, Renaissance murals depicting Hungarian rulers have been preserved to this day, painted on the wall of the former courtyard arcade together with carved and painted beamed ceilings of the chambers. Once overgrown, the ravaged courtyard is now covered with a glass roof and serves as a luxury restaurant.