Zdeno Uher, Siby Ivanicsová, Carmen Ondróová and Nicolas Križán

There are lots of castles around

Slovakia : Beckov castle, Betliar castle, Kežmarok castle and

so on...The biggest castle in

Slovakia is Bratislava castle, it is located in the capital of Slovakia (Bratislava) and it is the most famous and most visited castle here.

Because the project Visegrad´s time machine is a common project of four countries, we found out that we and the Hungarians have common history of Bratislava castle.

Our classmates were in Bratislava some years ago and they made a video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErE48wxtYc

The remains of Beckov castle are towering on the 50 metres high cliff over the village Beckov. The history of Beckov castle draws attention by many myths and that is the reason why it is such a popular, sought after attraction. One of the myths says, that the name of the castle comes from the name of the castle’s harlequin Becko, for whom the duke Ctibor had the castle built. Another myth says, that the master of the castle pushed his servant of the cliff, because the servant, in order to protect his child, killed the master’s favourite dog, and there are a lot of other myths..

The Betliar Museum specialises in documenting the history of gentry. It is located in the past hunting palace of the Andrássy family (a National Cultural Monument) which is situated in a large Romantic park in Betliar. The castle was one of the many other mansions of the family until 1945. The original building can be dated back to the first half of the 15th century. Soon it was enlarged. The present shape of the castle was formed during the last reconstruction at the end of the 19th century under Emanuel Andrássy. At end of 18th century a natural park was constructed closely corresponding to the surrounding nature as it was common at that time among the nobilities. Later it was wide-spread and supplemended by lots of dendrological rarenesses and today it is a big complex of 56-hectares with many watterfalls and building attractions. In 1985 the authorities of the Slovak Republic declared the whole area of the Betliar Castle to be a National Cultural Monument as a precious cultural and historical heritage of many centuries.

The dominant of the town Kežmarok is the Castle  Kežmarský hrad that has entered the history of tourism in the High Tatras as the salient point of the first known tourist trip to this mountain range.  In 1931, the first exposition of the regional Museum of Kežmarok was opened in a part of the castle compound. After general repairs to the castle that took place in the years 1962-1985, its collections were expanded. Visitors can see many expositions and theatre performances in summer nights at the Castle.

The most attractive tourist locality of the northern Slovakia is the Orava Castle lying on the river Orava near the village Oravský Podzámok, below impressive cliffs. In 1370, it became a county castle and the seat of the Orava Castle estate, which included almost the whole region of Orava.

The Zvolen Castle, which is located on the bank of the Slatina River, is the most distinctive feature and symbol of the Central Slovakian town of Zvolen. An armoured train that reminds the Slovak National Uprising is placed nearby the castle. The castle is currently managed by the Slovak National Gallery which uses it for exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions at the castle include copies of works by Master Paul of Levoča, collections of Gothic wall paintings and an assortment of pieces of art of European visual arts called the Old European Art. Every summer, the castle yard hosts a theatre festival called the Castle Plays of Zvolen (Zámocké hry zvolenské).

The nearest castle to us is in Nitra that´s why we decided to tell you information

about it. Few years ago pupils from our school were

on a trip in Nitra and they made a short film about the castle.

http://youtu.be/WhbV-7FCI48

Nitra castle is situated on a rocky cliff and it was a natural strength of the river Nitra. Already in the 13-th century the castle was so well fortified that it could withstand the attack of the Tartars. The dominant feature of the castle complex is the Cathedral, Bishop's Palace and massive fortifications with projecting bastions. Individual objects were rebuilt more times, but the present appearance of the castle is basically from the end of the 17th century, when the castle was fortified after fighting the Turks.