Hungary · 13th century
Boldogkő Castle ranks #6,379 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #42 of the 135 mapped in Hungary. Founded 1280, it is older than 64% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 1091 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,233 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Košice, 41 km away. See how Hungary compares in the castle statistics.
Boldogkő Castle is a medieval castle standing on a rocky crag rising on the eastern side of the valley of the Hernád river, in the immediate vicinity of Boldogkőváralja. The Bodókő hill of andesite tuff formed in the Miocene, on which the castle stands, is part of the Zemplén Landscape Protection District. Because of the beauty of the landscape and the relatively good condition of the castle, it is a popular hiking destination, and it is one of the stations of the National Blue Trail.
The earliest part of the castle (a keep surrounded by a defensive work) probably arose after the Mongol invasion, and was raised either by Count Tyba, son of Jaak of the Tomaj clan, or by the judge royal Amadé Aba. When Charles Robert of Anjou drove out the Abas, the castle passed to the Drugeth family loyal to him, and later to the former ban Péter Czudar. In the 15th century it was the property of the Serbian princes Stephen and George, and then of the Szapolyai family. In the Turkish period it frequently changed hands as one of the scenes of the intense fighting between the emperor and the king. In 1666 the conqueror György Rákóczi acquired it; later, in the kuruc period, it repeatedly gained an important role, but even before the Rákóczi War of Independence, in 1701, it was made uninhabitable by the imperial troops.
In the 18th century the ruin was taken over by the Jesuits, who used it as a grain store. Later it became the property of the Péchy and then the Zichy family, who, however, no longer lived in the fortress that had become uncomfortable, using instead the Baroque mansion built in the area of the serf village. Despite the imperial soldiers' blasting and the destructive centuries that followed, it is one of our medieval castles preserved in the best condition.
Machine-translated from “Boldogkői vár” on the Hungarian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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