Pustý hrad () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

whose ruins are located on a forested hill in the southern part of

Zvolen Zvolen (; ; ) is a city in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers. It is famous for several historical and cultural attractions. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the ...

in central

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 ...

. With an area of 76,000 m² it is arguably one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. The original name was Zvolen Castle or Old Zvolen (); ''Pustý hrad'' (meaning "deserted castle") is a much later name used to distinguish the ruin from the present-day

Zvolen Castle Zvolen Castle ( or incorrectly , Hungarian: ''Zólyomi vár'') is a medieval castle located on a hill near the center of Zvolen, in central Slovakia. The original seat of the region was above the confluence of Slatina and Hron rivers on a s ...

. Pustý hrad consists of two parts, the Upper Castle and the Lower Castle. The strategic hill site upon the river

Hron The Hron (; ; ; ) is a long left tributary of the DanubeP ...

attracted settlers as early as the late

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

(

Baden culture The Baden culture or Baden-Pécel culture is a Chalcolithic archaeological culture dating to 3520–2690 BC. It is found in Central and Southeast Europe, and is in particular known from Moravia (Czech Republic), Romania, Hungary, southern Pola ...

). A stone-earth wall discovered in 2009 under the western line of medieval fortification included shreds of pottery from the late Stone Age inside its filling. Research carried out at the Upper Castle in 1992–2008 by Václav Hanuliak also identified stone walls built during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. Excavations have unearthed many precious prehistoric artifacts, including several big bronze treasures of the

Lusatian culture The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age (1300–500 ) in most of what is now Poland and parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern Germany and western Ukraine. It covers the Periods Montelius III (e ...

, fragments from the Kyjatice culture, and even

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

imported from the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The subsequent

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

medieval castle was founded in the 9th century. As a regional center, Pustý hrad was incorporated into the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

and it became a seat of

Zólyom County Zvolen (; ; ) is a city in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina River (Slovakia), Slatina rivers. It is famous for several historical and cultural attractions. It is surrounded by Poľana Protected Landscape Area, Po� ...

. The oldest stone buildings (for example the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

) are attributed to King

Béla III of Hungary Béla III (, , ; 114823 April 1196) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1172 and 1196. He was the second son of King Géza II of Hungary, Géza II and Géza's wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev. Around 1161, Géza granted Béla a du ...

. The keep from the 12th century is located at the highest point of the hill - at an elevation of 571 m above sea level - and was once 50 meters high. In the 13th century, an exceptionally large area of the present castle was fully fortified by the royal stonemason master Bertold in order to protect eventual refugees from

in case of a

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

invasion. Both the Upper (3.5 ha) and the Lower (0.65 ha) Castle were surrounded by massive fortifications and a 206 metre long defense wall was erected in the saddle below the Lower Castle. In addition to an older keep, another one was built around the same time. Its dimensions of 20 by 20 meters made it one of the largest residential buildings in Central Europe at that time. Pustý hrad was first mentioned in written sources at the beginning of the 13th century, in the chronicle ''

Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medie ...

''. Subsequent development was connected with counts

Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinization of names, Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male name, male Greek given names, given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, ...

and Doncs from the Balassa family. Magister Knight Doncs was a noble warrior and diplomat serving to

Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia in the union with Hungary, Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel of A ...

. Under the influence of his journey to France, Doncs built a significant extension in the Lower Castle and ordered a Gothic modernization. During that phase a four-storey tower was added to the entrance gate of the Upper Castle. A palace, a

water tank A water tank is a container for Water storage, storing water, for many applications, drinking water, irrigation, fire suppression, farming, both for plants and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation as well as many other uses. Water ...

, a terraced courtyard and other newly constructed buildings in the northern panhandle of Pustý hrad formed what is now known as Doncs' Castle. The castle lost its importance in the 15th century, the period of military conflicts between

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

and

John Jiskra of Brandýs John Jiskra of Brandýs (in English sometimes referred as John Giskra; , , ; – ), was a Czech strategist and mercenary soldier. John Jiskra came from the Moravian branch of the noble family Lords of Brandýs, he was possibly a son of Alšík ...

. Pustý hrad was ruined by fire during a siege in 1452, probably burnt down by John Hunyadi's troops. The last building constructed on the site was a watchtower erected in the second half of the 16th century. Systematic excavations have been conducted since 1992. Some parts of the castle have been recently reconstructed and the site is easily accessible from

Gallery

File:Zvolen, Pustý hrad, korto apud enirpordego.jpg, Courtyard near to enter gate File:Zvolen, Pustý hrad, korto.jpg, Courtyard File:Zolyom-felsovarcivertanlegi1.jpg, Aerial view File:Dolný Pustý hrad.jpg, Lower castle (Dolný hrad) File:Dončov hrad, Pustý hrad, Zvolen.jpg, Donč's Castle (Dončov hrad)

External links

Short description and accessSatellite view of Pustý hrad

Information about history and archaeology, new picture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pusty hrad Castles in Slovakia Ruined castles in Slovakia Archaeological sites in Slovakia Former populated places in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Zvolen