Tematín Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

ruin in western

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

History

The castle was originally built in the second half of the 13th century in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. It was completely reconstructed by the

Thurzó family Thurzó ( sk, Turzo; pl, Turzonowie) was a Hungarian noble family from the 15th century to the first half of the 17th century. It was in Kraków that the rise of the Thurzó family began, and the family in turn boosted that city into an important ...

, owners of the castle from 1524. The last owner was Miklós Bercsényi, general of the anti-Habsburg insurrection army during

Rákóczi's War of Independence Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–11) was the first significant attempt to topple the rule of the Habsburgs over Hungary. The war was conducted by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by Francis II Rákó ...

. The castle fell into ruins after it was besieged in 1710 as a part of the suppression of the anti-

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

uprising. A trove of axe-shaped iron coins from the

Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...

n period was found in the

Hrádok Hrádok ( hu, Temetvény) is a village and municipality in Nové Mesto nad Váhom District in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1246. Geography The municipality lies at an ...

area. Traces of the Great Moravian fortified settlement found in the village were destroyed by construction activities.

Conservation

Today there is a Tematin castle non-profit organization
OZ Hrad Tematin
composed of university students. They work on conservation projects, conduct archaeological research and other historical-architectural research and other activities for castle preservation as well as making the site attractive for visitors.

External links

Tematín at castles.sk

OZ Hrad Tematin

OZ Hrad Tematin on FB

3D of Tematin castle
Castles in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Trenčín Region Ruined castles in Slovakia {{Slovakia-castle-stub

History

Conservation

See also

External links