Trip to Castle Slanec / Výlet na hrad Slanec

I wrote this post in two languages. In English and Slovak language.

This is not the first time we have gone on this trip. We have already gone to the ruins of Slanec Castle in the past. We prepared things, prepared food, relaxed before the trip, in short, we prepared everything in the top. We set off from Košice by train in the direction of Slanec. The trip went well. From behind the window we got to know the surrounding landscape until it rained heavily out of nowhere. We got off at the planned stop in the village of Slanec, from where we were to continue on foot.

The clouds were heavy, and even though it stopped raining, it didn't look pink at all. Nevertheless, we chose to conquer the castle hill, which we did not even see due to the fog. We walk on the asphalt in the desire to fulfill the set goals of the trip. We regretted this decision the moment the downpour started together with a strong wind. The umbrellas didn't help us either, and within a few minutes we were completely soaked. At that time, my girlfriend broke up with me about three times in five minutes. Fortunately, the local pastor took pity on us and drove us to the train station. We got to know her thoroughly that day, as we spent a lot of time on it until the train we had been so eagerly awaiting arrived. It was still raining and we had no choice but to come back.

Our second attempt turned out much better. We get off the train and in the village of Slanec we are greeted by beautiful sunny weather. From this place we can see the castle hill, densely overgrown with vegetation, from behind which the ruins of the castle did not rise. At this point, we find that last time we were so disoriented by the rain and fog that we actually went in the opposite direction. We were heading for a hill on which we would certainly not find the castle. We could also at least look at the tourist guidelines. At least it started to rain.

Well, nothing, I'll come back to the present. More precisely until 2017, when we were at Slanec Castle.

On the way to the castle we walk past the remains of the former manor house. Specifically around one of the outbuildings that were part of the complex.

The manor house was built by Count Sigismund Forgach in the middle of the 19th century. It was a large complex which consisted of 55 rooms, a kitchen, stables and rooms for servants.

The manor belonged to the Forgach family, who bred it. They introduced water and later electricity into it by gravity.

The manor house also included an extensive park. The owners of the manor planted a number of trees in it, such as Ginkgo biloba, Winter oak, Japanese plums or Mammoth sequoia.

A mammoth sequoia stands in the park to this day.

The park also included a number of fountains. It was an ideal recreation area.

During the Second World War, the manor house was damaged and looted. However, its end came after her. After the Second World War, the manor was under his control by a forest plant, which had it demolished in 1947 and built a house for the plant director in its place. Along with the manor house, a large part of the park was destroyed.

Unfortunately, communist ideology was like that at the time. Everything aristocratic is bad, let's build socialism together! It is a pity because we have lost a lot of monuments, our cultural heritage.

We walk through a dense forest. The hill is gentle and the climb is pleasant and does not last long. Dense deciduous trees gradually reveal the secrets of this hill.

First, the castle wall appeared to us, and soon the dominant feature of the castle, the castle tower.

This is what Slanec Castle looked like in the Middle Ages, I guess during its greatest glory.

The first written mention of the castle dates from the 13th century. At that time, a stone castle was already standing on the castle hill.

Someone in the castles admires the architecture, but I am most fascinated by the fights and rumors. The first great battle under the castle took place in 1281. At that time, against the economic reforms of King Ladislav IV. Kumánského was built by the owner of the palatine castle Finta. However, the fight against the king did not win and he conquered the castle.

In the first half of the 15th century, the castle and the village were burned down. From 1601, the Forgach family became the owners of the castle. They had the castle fortified. During Thököly's uprising, the castle changed owners. In 1678 it was conquered by insurgents and a year later by imperial troops. When František Rákoczi II came to power, he had the castle burned down.

Since then, the castle was deserted, but in 1937, three rooms were furnished in the castle in the Nebojsa tower. These were decorated with art objects of the castle owners. However, they were destroyed or stolen during World War II.

At the time we were at the castle, stones and mortar mixers were prepared in several places. It can be seen that the volunteers are trying to repair the crumbling walls. Who knows, maybe one day the castle will look at the surrounding area exactly as it did in the days of its greatest glory.

Thank you 🙂

Po Slovensky

Nie je to prvýkrát čo sme sa na tento výlet vybrali. Na zrúcaninu hradu Slanec sme sa vybrali už v minulosti. Nachystali sme si veci, pripravili jedlo, oddýchli si pred výletom, skrátka všetko sme si tip top prichystali. Vyrazili sme z Košíc vlakom smer Slanec. Cesta prebiehala dobre. Spoza okna sme spoznávali okolitú krajinu  až do chvíle keď z ničoho nič začalo husto pršať. Vystúpili sme na plánovanej zastávke v obci Slanec, odkiaľ sme mali pokračovať pešo.

Oblaky boli ťažké a napriek tomu, že prestalo pršať, vôbec to s nami nevyzeralo ružovo. No napriek tomu sme sa vybrali zdolať hradný kopec, ktorý sme vďaka hmle ani nevideli. Kráčame po asfaltke v túžbe naplniť si stanovené ciele výletu. Toto rozhodnutie sme oľutovali v okamihu keď sa spustil lejak spoločne so silným vetrom. Ani dáždniky nám nepomohli a behom pár minút sme boli kompletne premočený. V tom čase sa so mnou moja priateľka rozišla asi trikrát behom piatich minút. Našťastie sa nad nami zľutoval miestny pán farár a svojim autom nás odviezol na železničnú stanicu. Tú sme v ten deň spoznali dôkladne, nakoľko sme na nej strávili dosť veľa času kým prišiel vlak, ktorý sme tak túžobne očakávali. Stále pršalo a nám neostalo nič iné, ako vrátiť sa späť.

Náš druhý pokus dopadol oveľa lepšie. Vystupujeme z vlaku a v obci Slanec nás víta nádherné slnečné počasie. Už z tohoto miesta vidíme hradný kopec, husto zarastený vegetáciou, spoza ktorej sa nesmelo vypína ruina hradu. V tomto okamihu prichádzame na to, že minule sme boli vďaka dažďu a hmle natoľko dezorientovaný, že sme vlastne šli opačným smerom. Mierili sme na kopec, na ktorom by sme hrad určite nenašli. Tiež sme sa mohli pozrieť aspoň na turistické smerníky. Aspoň, že začalo pršať.

No nič, vrátim sa do prítomnosti. Presnejšie do roku 2017, kedy sme na hrade Slanec boli.

Po ceste na hrad prechádzame okolo zvyškov niekdajšieho kaštieľa. Konkrétne okolo jednej z hospodárskych budov, ktoré boli súčasťou komplexu. 

Kaštieľ dal postaviť gróf Žigmund Forgách v polovici 19. storočia. Bol to veľký komplex ktorý pozostával z 55 izieb, kuchyne, stajní a izieb pre služobníctvo.

Kaštieľ patril rodine Forgachovcov, ktorý ho zveľaďovali. Samospádom doňho zaviedli vodu a neskôr aj elektrinu.

Súčasťou kaštieľa bol aj rozsiahly park. Majitelia kaštieľa v ňom vysadili množstvo drevín, ako napríklad Ginko dvojlaločné, Dub zimný, Japonské slivky či Sekvojovec mamutí.

Sekvojovec mamutí stojí v parku dodnes.

Súčasťou parku bolo aj množstvo fontán. Bola to ideálna oddychová zóna.

Počas druhej svetovej vojny bol kaštieľ poškodený a vyrabovaný. Jeho koniec však prišiel až po nej. Po druhej svetovej vojne dostal kaštieľ pod svoju správu lesný závod, ktorý ho nechal v roku 1947 zbúrať a na jeho mieste postavili dom pre riaditeľa závodu. Spoločne s kaštieľom sa zničila aj značná časť parku.

Komunistická ideológia bola bohužiaľ v tom čase taká. Všetko aristokratické je zlé, poďme spoločne budovať socializmus! Je to škoda, pretože sme prišli o množstvo pamiatok, o naše kultúrne dedičstvo.

Kráčame po hustom lese. Kopec je mierny a stúpanie je príjemné a netrvá asi dlho. Husté listnaté stromy postupne odkrývajú tajomstvá tohto kopca.

Najprv sa nám ukázal hradný múr a onedlho aj dominanta hradu, hradná veža.

Takto vyzeral hrad Slanec v dobách stredoveku, hádam počas svojej najväčšej slávy.

Prvé písomné zmienky o hrade pochádzajú z 13. storočia. V tom čase na hradnom kopci už stál kamenný hrad. 

Niekto na hradoch obdivuje architektúru, no mňa najviac fascinujú boje a povesti. Prvá veľká bitka sa pod hradom odohrala v roku 1281. Vtedy sa proti hospodárskym reformám kráľa Ladislava IV. Kumánskeho postavil majiteľ hradu palatín Finta. Boj proti kráľovi však nevyhral a ten hrad dobyl.

V prvej polovici 15. storočia boli hrad aj dedina vypálené. Od roku 1601 sa majiteľmi hradu stali Forgachovci. Ti nechali hrad opevniť. Počas Thökölyho povstania hrad prestriedal majiteľov. V roku 1678 ho dobyli povstalci a o rok neskôr cisárske vojská. Keď sa k moci dostal František Rákoczi II., nechal hrad vypáliť.

Odvtedy hrad pustol, avšak ešte v roku 1937 boli na hrade vo veži Nebojsa zariadené tri izby. Tie boli vyzdobené umeleckými predmetmi majiteľov hradu. Počas druhej svetovej vojny však boli zničené alebo ukradnuté.

V čase, keď sme na hrade boli, boli na viacerých miestach pripravené kamene a miešačky na maltu. Je vidno, že dobrovoľníci sa snažia opravovať rozpadnuté múry. Ktovie, možno raz sa bude hrad na široké okolie pozerať presne tak, ako v dobách svojej najväčšej slávy.

Ďakujem

Disclosure: Posts on TravelFeed may contain affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure.