Hungary · 14th century
The Castle of Solymos (Hungarian: Solymos vára), Castle of Komlóska or Pusztavár (means ‘Desert Castle’) is a 14th-century hilltop castle ruin on the border between Komlóska and Erdőhorváti, in Northern Hungary.
The ruins of the castle sit on a 426-metre-high (1,398 ft) peak of the Zemplén Mountains. Although known as the castle of Komlóska, the peak on which it was built actually lies within the administrative territory of the municipality of Erdőhorváti. But it is easier to reach the castle from Komlóska.
According to the information available to date, members of the Tolcsva Clan, who fought in Charles Robert’s army, were granted the land by their ruler, on which they built the stone castle as their residence after 1312.
The castle’s builders used the natural features of the elliptical hilltop and erected thick stone walls along its steep edge.
It served as a residence for the clan for barely a few decades, as Palatine Derek Bebek described it as a ruined castle in a document from 1398. This is why it came to be known as Pusztavár.
Text adapted from “Castle of Solymos” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castle of Solymos ranks #8,741 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #108 of the 135 mapped in Hungary. Founded c. 1350, it is older than 55% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Košice, 46 km away. See how Hungary compares in the castle statistics.
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