Muráň Castle ( sk, Muránsky hrad; hu, Murány vára), is a ruin of a medieval

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 ...

above the village of Muráň, in the Muránska planina National Park in

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 ...

. The castle is noteworthy for its unusually high elevation of 935 m, making it the third highest castle in Slovakia. It also figures in several romantic legends about its owners. Murány Castle was built in the 13th century on a cliff overlooking a regional trade route. Its name was mentioned for the first time in 1271 ("''arx Mwran''"), when

Stephen V of Hungary Stephen V ( hu, V. István, hr, Stjepan V., sk, Štefan V; before 18 October 1239 – 6 August 1272, Csepel Island) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1270 and 1272, and Duke of Styria from 1258 to 1260. He was the o ...

ceded the castle to Gunig comes. One of its owners, the robber baron Mátyás Basó (or Bacsó, in Slovak: Matúš Bašo), transformed the castle into a stronghold of bandits who robbed merchants and looted villages. After a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

by the royal army, the castle fell in 1548 and Basó was executed. One of the oldest Slovak songs, "The Song About The Castle of Muráň", written by Martin Bošňák describes this battle. Another owner was

Mária Széchy Mária is a Hungarian and Slovak form of Maria (given name) or Mary (given name). * The name is found in the Mária Valéria Bridge between Hungary and Slovakia on the middle of the bridge named after Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria and ma ...

, better known as "The Venus of Murány". This independent woman divorced her second husband to marry the love of her life,

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Ferenc Wesselényi Count Ferenc Wesselényi de Hadad et Murány (1605 – Zólyomlipcse ( Slovenská Ľupča), 23 March 1667) was a Hungarian military commander and the palatine of the Royal Hungary. Life He was the son of István Wesselényi, royal court counselo ...

, the subsequent

Palatine of Hungary The Palatine of Hungary ( hu, nádor or , german: Landespalatin, la, palatinus regni Hungariae) was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were represe ...

. When Wesselényi was besieging Murány Castle, which was occupied by her relatives at the time, she managed to get his soldiers inside through trickery. In 1666, Wesselényi organized a failed coup against Leopold I, but he died before any major confrontation. Subsequently, Mária Széchy bravely led a defense of the castle against imperial troops. Outnumbered, she eventually surrendered to Charles of Lorraine in 1670. After the

Treaty of Szatmár The Treaty of Szatmár (or the Peace of Szatmár) was a peace treaty concluded at Szatmár (present-day Satu Mare, Romania) on 29 April 1711 between the House of Habsburg emperor Charles VI, the Hungarian estates and the Kuruc rebels. It forma ...

, the importance of the castle declined, as did its general condition. It was damaged twice in the 18th century by fire, in 1702 and in 1760. The area was part of Gömör, then Gömör és Kishont County of Hungary. In 1920, under the terms of the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It formal ...

it became part of the newly formed

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

References

External links

Short description of Muráň Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muran Castle Castles in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Banská Bystrica Region