Krásna Hôrka Castle

The Krásna Hôrka Castle (Slovak: Hrad Krásna Hôrka, Hungarian: Krasznahorka vára) is a castle in Slovakia, built on a hilltop overlooking the village of Krásnohorské Podhradie near Rožňava, in Košice Region. The first recorded mention of the castle was in 1333. In 1961 Krásna Hôrka was designated a National Cultural Monument of the Slovak Republic.[2] It was said to be one of the country's best-preserved castles. On 10 March 2012 the castle was extensively damaged by fire, due to some teens carelessly discarding a cigarette which set the grass on fire.[3]

Krásna Hôrka Castle
Krásna Hôrka
Krásnohorské Podhradie, Slovakia
Krásna Hôrka Castle, during the reconstruction works after 2012 fire (October 2013)
Interior furniture
Krásna Hôrka Castle is located in Slovakia
Krásna Hôrka Castle
Krásna Hôrka Castle
Coordinates48.658307°N 20.600336°E / 48.658307; 20.600336
Site history
Builtsince the 13th century[1]
Events10 March 2012 – fire

Etymology

The name means "a beautiful mountain" (Slovak: krásna - beautiful, hôrka - a little mountain). [4] Unlikely but possible is a derivation from the word kras (karst), because the karst is in the neighbourhood.[4]

History

The castle was built in the 13th century by the Hungarian Ákos brothers[note 1] on a trade route leading from Transylvania through Košice to Spiš and today's Poland.[1] The Ákos family (which later changed its name to Bebek) lived in Krásna Hôrka from the mid-13th century to 1566, apart from a short period when the Mariássy family seized control of the castle.[1] In 1578 the castle passed into the hands of [the Hungarian] Péter Andrássy and remained in the possession of the Andrássy family up until 1918 (the year the First Czechoslovak Republic was founded).[1]

During 2010 and 2011 the castle underwent renovation and was re-opened to public in April, 2011.[5]

2012 fire

On 10 March 2012, the castle was badly damaged by fire. The fire was caused by two young Romani boys who attempted to light up a cigarette and accidentally lit grass on the hill, from where it spread to the castle.[6][7]

The castle building suffered extensive damage. The roof, the exhibition area in the Gothic palace and the bell tower were completely destroyed.[8][9] Three bells in the bell tower were melted by the heat.[10] Initially, it was thought that many of the building's historic artefacts had been destroyed.[3] However, according to the Interior Minister of Slovakia Daniel Lipšic, "...the vast majority of exhibits remained undamaged".[11] Daniel Krajcer, Minister of Culture, commented that only the upper part of the castle (including collections) had been destroyed.[5] The Slovak National Museum has stated that 90% of the collections were undamaged.[10]

Cultural references

Hungarian folk ballad Krasznahorka büszke vára (The Proud Castle of Krásna Hôrka), traditionally played on a tárogató, is inspired by the castle.[12]

Notes
  1. "Filip and Detre Szárs from the Ákos family"

References
  1. "Hrad Krásna Hôrka" (in Slovak). Slovak National Museum. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  2. Sovová, Lucie (10 March 2012). "VIDEO: Slovenský hrad Krásna Hôrka poničil požár" (in Czech). Mediafax.cz. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  3. Urquhart, Wendy. "Slovakia's Krasna Horka castle destroyed in fire". BBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  4. Krajčovič, Rudolf (2011). "Z lexiky stredovekej slovenčiny s výkladmi názvov obcí a miest (12)". Kultúra slova. Martin: Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej (2): 99.
  5. "Slovenský hrad Krásna Horka poškodil obrovský požár" (in Czech). Czech Television. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  6. "Hrad Krásna Hôrka zdevastoval veľký požiar" (in Slovak). Pravda.sk. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  7. "Krasna Horka Fire: Smoking Children Burn Down Slovakia Castle". HuffPost. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  8. Vilček, Ivan (10 March 2012). "Na Slovensku hoří hrad Krásna Hôrka" (in Czech). Novinky.cz. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  9. "Z Krásnej Hôrky sa podarilo zachrániť 90 percent expozícií" (in Slovak). Nový čas. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  10. Šubrt, Pavel (11 March 2012). "Slovenský hrad Krásná Hôrka shořel kvůli dvěma dětem s cigaretou" (in Czech). Novinky.cz. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  11. Sovová, Lucie (10 March 2012). "VIDEO: Slovenský hrad Krásna Hôrka poničil požár" (in Czech). Mediafax.cz. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ("Drtivá většina exponátů je naštěstí nepoškozená...")
  12. "Najdôstojnejší pohreb, aký som zažil". Štandard (in Slovak). Retrieved 25 January 2023.
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