Tematín Castle 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 ...

ruin in western

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 ...

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 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 ...

. It was completely reconstructed by the

Thurzó family The House of Thurzó (; ) 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 center of b ...

, 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 (1703–1711) was the first significant attempt to topple the rule of the Habsburgs over Royal Hungary, Hungary. The war was conducted by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by F ...

. 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 (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

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

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

n period was found in the Hrádok 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