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A typical feature of Gelnice is a low hill with the remains of the former Gelnice castle. The castle was founded during the reign of King Andrew II of Hungary. r. 1234. The site for the building was determined by Gottfried Klingsoher, the king's commissioner. The origin of the castle from the 13th century is also evidenced by its oval-shaped floor plan. The castle was built to protect the city and the mines.

Gelnica Castle

A typical feature of Gelnice is a low hill with the remains of the former Gelnice castle. The castle was founded during the reign of King Andrew II of Hungary. r. 1234. The site for the building was determined by Gottfried Klingsoher, the king's commissioner. The origin of the castle from the 13th century is also evidenced by its oval-shaped floor plan. The castle was built to protect the city and the mines.

The turbulent history of the castle began in the 13th century, when it survived the Tartar invasion. In 1274 the castle was conquered by the insurgent Roland. During the stay of Jiskr's troops in Spiš in the middle of the 15th century, the castle was in the hands of Ján Jiskra and later in the hands of the fraternal army, which at that time controlled almost the entire Spiš.

After the retreat of the fraternal troops from Spiš, after 230 years, the castle ceased to be the property of the king: for help against the brothers, King Matej also donated the town and the castle to the Zápoľskovec family.

During the battles for the Hungarian throne between Ferdinand of Habsburg and Ján Zápoľský, the castle was destroyed in 1527. After the defeat of Zápoľský, Ferdinand donated the Gelnický Castle to Alexei Thurz, who had it restored and enlarged. Since then, it has been referred to as Thurz Castle.

The Thurz family owned the castle until 1636, when the last male descendant of the family - Michal Thurzo - died. The castle briefly became the property of the state again, but in 1638 it was Ferdinand III. with all the Thurz property he gave to Count Štefan Csáky and his wife Eva Forgáchová, whose mother Zuzana was the daughter of Alexei Thurz. Gelnický Castle thus changed owners again. However, the Csáky family's ownership of the castle was postponed until 1652 due to the uprising of Juraj Rákoczi.

In the time of the Csáky family, several uprisings took place, during which the castle and the town passed from hand to hand. Under such conditions, the castle was completely destroyed. However, it is not certain whether this happened in 1685 or up to r. 1710. Since In 1765, the castle grounds served as a permanent place for military training of Gelnica hussars.

Another destruction of the castle was accelerated by an order of the city officials, on the basis of which material from the castle walls was used for the construction of the city hall and adjacent buildings. In this way, the castle quickly changed its appearance. The last blow was dealt to the castle by the town, when the castle passed in 1839 into the ownership and administration of the city, which ordered the damaged parts of the castle removed. The reason for this decision was the fatal injury of the carpentry apprentice Haas, who died while pulling a beam out of the castle ruins.

The first authentic photograph of the castle from this period has been preserved, according to which the castle had four bastions and an entrance on the east side. In addition to the main courtyard, there were three other courtyards in the castle.

In 1963, a survey of the castle grounds and its surroundings began. At the same time, it was found that in the vicinity of the castle there are 14 underground corridors, resp. pubs. During excavation work on the castle, several objects were found, such as keys, promontories, weapons, etc.

Updated on: 1.10.2021
Source: Hrad Gelnica

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Gelnica Castle
Gelnica
Region: Košický
District: Gelnica
Area: Spiš
 48.850023, 20.931069

Gelnica

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