Čachtice Castle

Čachtice Castle (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈtʃaxcitsɛ]; Slovak: Čachtický hrad, Hungarian: Csejte vára) is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason. The castle was a residence and later the prison of the Countess Elizabeth Báthory.

Čachtice Castle
Čachtice, Slovakia
View of the castle ruins from the south
Čachtice Castle
Coordinates48.725°N 17.760833°E / 48.725; 17.760833
Site information
OwnerVillage of Čachtice
ConditionRuined, Tourist Attraction
Websitehttps://cachtickyhrad.eu/en/
Site history
Built13th century
Built byKazimír of Hunt-Poznan
MaterialsLimestone
Demolished1799

Čachtice was built in the mid-13th century by Kazimir from the Hont-Pázmány gens as a sentry on the road to Moravia. Later, it belonged to Máté Csák, the Stibor family, and then to Elizabeth Báthory. Čachtice, its surrounding lands and villages, was a wedding gift from the Nádasdy family upon Elizabeth's marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy in 1575.

Originally, Čachtice was a Romanesque castle with an interesting horseshoe shaped residence tower. It was turned into a Gothic castle later and its size was increased in the 15th and 16th centuries. A Renaissance renovation followed in the 17th century. In 1708 the castle was captured by the rebels of Ferenc II Rákoci AKA Francis II Rákóczi. It was neglected and burned down in 1799. It was left to decay until it was turned into a tourist attraction in 2014.[1]

  • Along with the Orava Castle, the Čachtice Castle was used as the location for Count Orlok's castle in Nosferatu.
  • A slightly dressed up version of Čachtice is used for the exterior shots of Baron Gorc's castle in the 1981 Czechoslovakian comedy The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians.
  • Čachtice was used as the castle ruins set featured in the opening sequence of the 1996 fantasy movie Dragonheart by Universal Pictures starring Dennis Quaid.[2]
  • The live album Channeling of Lady Elizabeth Bathory[3] by multigenre jam band Štefánik, Perný & Kollár feat. Kofi was recorded in Višňové village, under the Čachtice Castle in 2010.
  • The Čachtice Castle was featured in the "Castle of the Blood Countess" episode of the ABC Family show The Scariest Places on Earth, as well as the August 2008 episode "Tortured Souls" on the SyFy channels series Ghost Hunters International.
  • Juraj Jakubisko's 2008 film Bathory is set in the Čachtice Castle, where some scenes were filmed.

References
  1. "História hradu". Čachtický hrad. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  2. "Castles and More Castles (Slovakia)". Iarelative.com. 1996-06-06. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  3. "Channeling Of Lady Elizabeth Bathory feat. Kofi – Stefanik, Perny & Kollar – Listen and discover music at". Last.fm. 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2012-09-15.

Further reading

In English:

  • Craft, Kimberly (2009). Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory. ISBN 1-4495-1344-1.
  • McNally, Raymond T. (1983). Dracula Was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania. New York: McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-045671-2.
  • Penrose, Valentine (trans. Alexander Trocchi) (2006). The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsébet Báthory. Solar Books. ISBN 0-9714578-2-4.
  • Thorne, Tony (1997). Countess Dracula. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-2900-0.

In French:

  • Périsset, Maurice (2001). La comtesse de sang. Pygmalion. ISBN 2-85704-700-2.

In German:

  • Farin, Michael (2003). Heroine des Grauens. Elisabeth Báthory. Munich: P. Kirchheim. ISBN 3-87410-038-3.

In Hungarian:

  • Bessenyei, József (2005). A Nádasdyak. General Press Kiadó. ISBN 963-9598-65-8.
  • Lengyel, Tünde and Várkonyi, Gábor (2010). Báthory Erzsébet, Egy asszony élete. General Press Kiadó. ISBN 978-963-643-168-6.
  • Nagy, László (1984). A rossz hírű Báthoryak. Kossuth Könyvkiadó. ISBN 963-09-2308-4.
  • Nagy, László (1987). Az erős fekete bég: Nádasdy Ferenc. Zrínyi Katonai Könyv és Lapkiadó. ISBN 963-326-933-4.
  • Nemere, István (2009). Báthory Erzsébet magánélete. Könyvmolyképző Kiadó. ISBN 978-963-245-193-0.
  • Péter, Katalin (1985). A csejtei várúrnő: Báthory Erzsébet. Helikon. ISBN 963-207-652-4.
  • Rexa, Dezső (1908). Báthory Erzsébet Nádasdy Ferencné. Benkő Gyula Udvari Könyvkereskedése.
  • Supka, Géza (c. 1940). Az átkozott asszony: Nádasdy Ferencné, Báthory Erzsébet bűnügye. Erdélyi Egyetemes Könyvtár.
  • Szádeczky-Kardoss, Irma (1993). Báthory Erzsébet igazsága. Nestor Kiadó. ISBN 963-7523-26-X.

In Slovak:

  • Dvořák, Pavel (1999). Krvavá grófka: Alžbeta Bátoryová, fakty a výmysly. Slovart. ISBN 978-80-85501-07-0.
  • Nižnánsky, Jožo (2001). Čachtická pani. Media klub. ISBN 80-88963-52-4.

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