Repaired rubble walls cast long dark early evening shadows as the sun sinks to the west of the upper courtyard at Spiš Castle, a formidable medieval fortress built by Hungarian kings that stands on a 200m-high limestone spur in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. The stronghold has survived sieges by invading Tartars and rival warlords as well as centuries of neglect and stone robbing.
Spiš Castle, Spišské Podhradie, Košice Region, eastern Slovakia: early evening sunshine casts deep shadows over the repaired rubble walls of ruined buildings bordering the upper courtyard of Spiš Castle or Spišský hrad, a formidable fortress built in the 13th century by Hungarian kings that survived a Tartar siege in 1241 and centuries of later neglect and stone-robbing. The castle stands on a spur of travertine limestone that rises to a height of about 200m (650 ft) above the surrounding pastoral landscape, and was built of the same material. The upper courtyard encloses a two-storey Romanesque palace and a circular keep or donjon tower about 22m (72 ft) in diameter. The fortress was heavily defended, with an outer palisade, ditches, soaring curtain walls, towers and bastions. Spiš Castle successfully repelled a Tartar siege in 1241 and was then the focus for many other armed conflicts as noble owners rebelled against the monarchy and fought each other for the right to own it. Spiš grew to become Central Europe’s largest fortified complex, but in the late 1600s, its last private owners, the Csáky family, moved to a more comfortable home and in 1780, the site was abandoned after a disastrous fire. A thorough restoration programme, launched in 1969, led to the castle and its environs being granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Extensive archaeological research has been carried out at the site and the fortress 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: 4219px × 2807px
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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