A full suit or panoply of engraved plate armour standing, holding a broadsword, in the museum within Spiš Castle, a formidable fortress in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia built by Hungarian kings in the early 1200s. Other exhibits include weaponry and instruments of torture.


Spiš Castle, Košice Region, eastern Slovakia: this full suit or panoply of engraved 1400s or 1500s plate armour stands, holding a broadsword, in the museum housed in a rebuilt section of this formidable fortress built in the early 1200s by the kings of Hungary. Other exhibits include ancient weapons and instruments of torture. t Spiš Castle or Spišský hrad was built to replace an earlier stronghold on a 200m-high (650 ft) limestone spur. It withstood a siege by Tartar invaders in 1249 and was involved in further warfare involving noble families either rebelling against the monarchy or fighting amongst themselves. The castle was strongly defended by an outer palisade, ditches, curtain walls, towers and bastions and it grew to become the largest fortified complex in Central Europe. However, in the late 1600s, its last private owners moved to a more comfortable home and after a disastrous fire in 1780, the site was abandoned. It then suffered many decades of neglect. A restoration programme launched in 1969 led to the castle and its environs winning UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1993 and it is now a popular visitor attraction. Despite being robbed of stone over several decades, the remains still illustrate the stages in castle development through the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras.


Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Spiš Castle or Spišský hrad, Košice Region, Slovakia.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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