Muráň Castle

Muráň Castle (Slovak: Muránsky hrad; Hungarian: Murány vára), is a ruin of a medieval castle situated above the village of Muráň, in the Muránska planina National Park in Slovakia. The castle is noteworthy for its unusually high altitude of 935 m making it the third highest located castle in Slovakia.[1] It also figures in several romantic legends about its remarkable owners. Murány Castle was built in the 13th century on a cliff overlooking a regional trade route. Its name was mentioned for the first time in 1271 ("arx Mwran"), when Stephen V of Hungary ceded the castle to Gunig comes.

Muráň Castle
Muráň, Slovakia
The main gate of the castle.
Muráň Castle
Coordinates48.759174°N 20.059710°E / 48.759174; 20.059710
Site information
ConditionRuined
Site history
Built13th century, before 1271
Demolished18th century

One of its owners, the robber baron Mátyás Basó (or Bacsó, in Slovak: Matúš Bašo), transformed the castle into a stronghold of bandits who robbed merchants and looted villages. After a siege by the royal army, the castle fell in 1548 and Basó was executed.

Another famous owner was Mária Széchy, better known as "The Venus of Murány". This astonishingly independent woman divorced her second husband to marry the love of her life – magnate Ferenc Wesselényi, the subsequent Palatine of Hungary. When Wesselényi was besieging Murány Castle, which was occupied by her relatives at the time, she even managed to get his soldiers inside through trickery. In 1666, Wesselényi organized a failed coup against Leopold I, but he died before any major confrontation. Subsequently, Mária Széchy bravely led a defense of the castle against Imperial troops. Outnumbered, she eventually surrendered to Charles of Lorraine in 1670.

After the Treaty of Szatmár, the importance of the castle declined, so did its general condition. It was damaged twice in the 18th century by fire[1]: in 1702 and in 1760.

The area was part of Gömör, then Gömör és Kishont County of Hungary. In 1920, under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon it became part of the newly formed Czechoslovakia. The name of the castle and the village was changed from Murány to Muráň.

References
  1. Kollár, Daniel; Nešpor, Jaroslav (2007). Castles - Most Beautiful Ruins (1st ed.). Bratislava: DAJAMA. pp. 100–103. ISBN 978-80-89226-42-9.

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