Salgó Castle is a Hungarian stronghold near

Salgótarján Salgótarján (; sk, Šalgotarján) is city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád county, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third smallest county capital based on population. The nearby Salgó castle is a well-known tourist ...

Nógrád Nógrád ( sk, Novohrad; german: Neuburg) is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, ...

county, 120 km from

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Originally built as a tower by the Kacsics clan in the 13th century to withstand the

Mongol invasions The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of the 13th century, it was later renovated into a fortress by King Béla IV. During the

Hussite War The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

, the fortress was captured in 1460 and captured again by the Ottoman army in the 16th century. Ownership of the castle eventually passed to

Bálint Balassi Baron Bálint Balassi de Kékkő et Gyarmat ( hu, Gyarmati és kékkői báró Balassi Bálint, sk, Valentín Balaša (Valaša) barón z Ďarmôt a Modrého Kameňa; 20 October 155430 May 1594) was a Hungarian Renaissance lyric poet. He wrot ...

and his family, one member of the family neglected the castle and left it in ruins. Today Salgó Castle is a well-known tourist spot.

History

In the beginning it was only a square-shaped stone tower. The meaning behind "Salgó" is 'shine', however it is still not clear whether the name Salgó was the name of the volcanic peak on which the castle sits on, or that they started to call the place by this name after the tower was erected. A fortified tower at first stood on the site of the present-day castle. It was built by the Kacsics clan, who were the lords around these hills in the 13th century. The building of this tower was because of the recurrent Mongol invasions in 1241 to 1242, since only fortified towns or castles could resist the their attacks. Mongols were not capable of sieges. After one invasion, the King Béla IV ordered the fortifications of manor houses and towns as well as the building of new strongholds. Salgó then began development as a small tower (7.5 x 9.5 m) with a small castle-yard. It is thought that the cellar of the tower was used as a prison. A water-collecting cistern was constructed under the tower owing to difficulties with obtaining the water supply on a volcanic rock. This castle had two cisterns and the water was essential, not only for drinking but also fire fighting.

15th century

In 1460 the

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

captured the small fortress of Salgó. King Mathias recaptured it in the same year and gave it to Imre Szapolyai. This period commenced the golden age of Salgó castle. The lower castle-yard was further built and the upper castle-yard became roofed-over and became a living space. The lord of the castle did not live in the castle but his substitute, the castellan lived in the upper yard. In the lower castle-yard there were stables and storehouses. In the 16th century a huge pentagonal battlement (14 x 15 m) was built in the east side of the rock. Even this reinforced building could not resist an Ottoman attack. Legends were told, that Kara Hamza bey, the governor of Szécsény and Hatvan, took the castle by ruse. He made his soldiers lay tree trunks on to gun carriages and push them under the fortress. The soldiers in the tower thought that the trunks were real cannons as they could not see well in the fog. They then handed over Salgó Castle. In reality the fortress was shelled to ruins by the Ottoman army. They set the artillery on the top of the neighbouring hill, opposite to Salgó called Kis-Salgó (Small-Salgó) or Boszorkánykő (cliff of witches).

, the great Hungarian poet, got into the fortress, while the Ottoman army was still stationed in the castle. After his death his sons Bálint and Ferenc Kövér could not decide who was the owner and a long-drawn lawsuit went on between them. In 1593 Michael Pálffy and Christof Tieffenbach reoccupied the castle.

died in 1594 during the Siege of Esztergom. The nephew of Bálint inherited the ruins of the castle but he left it alone.

Modern

The ruins became overgrown with grass and shrubs up until the 19th century when Sándor Petőfi another famous Hungarian poet climbed into the ruins of the castle in 1845 the atmosphere of the ruins made him write his romantic poetry called ''Salgó''. This is a tragic story about the Kompolti clan, the lords of Salgó, who tyrannized the region, which were under their power. The story is based on a traditional legend. Today Salgó Castle is a well-known tourist spot.

Gallery

File:CivertanSalgo.jpg File:CivertanSalgo2.jpg File:Salgó várrom (6785. számú műemlék).jpg File:Salgóvár3.jpg File:Salgóvár2.jpg

External links

Salgo web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salgo Castles in Hungary Buildings and structures in Nógrád County Tourist attractions in Nógrád County Ruins in Hungary