Čachtice Castle (; , ) is a castle ruin in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

next to the village of

Čachtice Čachtice (, ) is a village in Nové Mesto nad Váhom District in western Slovakia with a population of 4,010 (as of 2014). The village is situated between the Danubian Lowland and the Little Carpathians. It is best known for the ruins of the nea ...

. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason. The castle was a residence and later the prison of the Countess and alleged serial killer

Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed (, ; ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the powerful House of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia). Báthory and fo ...

. Čachtice was built in the mid-13th century by Kazimir from the Hont-Pázmány

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

as a sentry on the road to

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. Later, it belonged to Matthew Csák, the Stibor family, and then to

. Čachtice, its surrounding lands and villages, was a wedding gift from the Nádasdy family upon Elizabeth's marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy in 1575. Originally, Čachtice was a Romanesque castle with an interesting horseshoe-shaped residence tower. It was turned into a Gothic castle later and its size was increased in the 15th and 16th centuries. A

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

renovation followed in the 17th century. In 1708 the castle was captured by the rebels of

Francis II Rákóczi Francis II Rákóczi (, ; 27 March 1676 – 8 April 1735) was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of the Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburgs in 1703–1711 as the prince () of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of ...

. It was neglected and burned down in 1799. It was left to decay until it was turned into a tourist attraction in 2014.

In popular culture

* Along with the Orava Castle, the Čachtice Castle was used as the location for Count Orlok's castle in ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

''. * A slightly dressed up version of Čachtice is used for the exterior shots of Baron Gorc's castle in the 1981 Czechoslovakian comedy '' The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians''. * Čachtice was used as the castle ruins set featured in the opening sequence of the 1996 fantasy movie ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue, based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

starring

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...

. * Čachtice Castle was featured in the "Castle of the Blood Countess" episode of the ABC Family show '' The Scariest Places on Earth'', as well as the August 2008 episode "Tortured Souls" on the SyFy channels series ''

Ghost Hunters International ''Ghost Hunters International'' (abbreviated as ''GHI'') is a spin-off series of '' Ghost Hunters'' that aired on Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi). The series premiered on January 9, 2008, and ended on April 4, 2012. Like its parent series, ''GHI'' was ...

''. * the Castle appears in the 2008 film Bathory(Directed:

Juraj Jakubisko Juraj Jakubisko (30 April 1938 – 24 February 2023) was a Slovak film director. He directed fifteen feature films, between 1967 and 2008. He often took on the dual role of cinematographer in his films, as well as writing or co-writing the scrip ...

)

Gallery

File:Csejtecivertanlegi2.jpg File:Csejtecivertanlegi1.jpg File:Csejtecivertanlegi3.jpg File:Csejtecivertanlegi4.jpg File:Slovakia Cachtice hrad 2.JPG File:Čachtický hrad a Višňové.jpg

References

External links

The Bloody Countess?
- Translation of Dr. Szádeczky-Kardoss Irma's job
The Lies about Elizabeth Bathory
- Inquest of National Geographic Channel
Slovakia Cachtice (Bathory) Castle (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cachtice Castle 13th-century fortifications Buildings and structures demolished in 1799 Romanesque architecture in Slovakia Castles in Slovakia Ruined castles in Slovakia Nádasdy family Buildings and structures in Trenčín Region Elizabeth Báthory Burned buildings and structures in Europe

In popular culture

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links