#what? vranka posting something of her own?

[vranacaruje]

Castle Gýmeš, Slovakia.

This Sunday, my family and I decided to go on a small hike to see this beauty. So I thought.. why not tell you all something about it.

Disclaimer: I do apologize if I get certain words wrong, and appreciate any suggestions on how to improve this post. I am also open to any questions and will try to answer as best as I can.

The post contains the following:

a little bit of history

about the journey there and back

exploring the castle

probably me whining and complaining, really

The castle sits upon the mountain of Dúň, in the mountain chain of Tribeč. It is one of the castles of the noble family Forgáchy.

It is estimated to have been built in the years 1253 - 1270. The oldest center portion of the castle was defined by an early-gothic fortified wall which closed in a triangle shaped courtyard. On the south side on a raised portion of the land was a tower with both a defensive and residential function. Another tower was built at the end of the 13th century. Structures were built between the two in an attempt to fortify the castle further.

In this state it was found by a certain Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, a Hungarian duke. It was left in this state until the 15th century, when, under the rule of the Forgáchy family, the castle was extensively built upon - with added palaces and defensive structures. The building up of defence lasted well into the 16th century when two towers rose at the entrance to the castle.

Increased labour, fees and taxes resulted in the peasants rioting in the year 1610, though the riots were quickly pushed back and tamed by the nobility. The castle was then damaged heavily by Turks after the fall of Nové Zámky in 1663. While reconstructing the castle after the battle, they decided to fortify the southern and most vulnerable side and built up new defences with a cannon bastion.

Gýmeš was one of the few castles which were built upon well into the 18th century. The rebuilding of this gothic castle into a family crypt of the Forgáchy family is dated back into this period. It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century that the nobility left the castle for good - after which it started to slowly fall apart.

Today the castle is being worked on and constantly repaired. I'm unsure how much they want to rebuild, but I do hope that it will not be left to decay.

Moving on...

Now, I'd like to share some things about the journey there and back (and exploration of the castle). This is going to be purely personal from now on, so if you don't care you can stop reading. If you're curious, be my guest.

It takes roughly an hour-hour and a half to get up there. You hike through the woods, the path winding between trees and clearings. The forest is serene. There's not that much wildlife, unsurprisingly, but you can hear birds - swallows, tits, crows.. The leaves crunch under your feet and - now, wait a second. I'm not sure how others walk, but I like to keep quiet in the woods when I know for sure that there are no predators in that region. It makes me feel more at ease, more 'in tune' with nature. I don't like going around and stomping, kicking leaves around me. However, my family has an entirely different mindset. At the end of the day, it irritated me how much they kicked the leaves and rustled and, ugh, oh gods... Anyway.

I am not an especially physically fit individual. I'm not too proud of it, but I can get winded while simply going up some stairs. The hike there? Murderous. Okay, well, not really. There were some flat portions of the trail, some that went up, down, around. It wasn't as bad as some trails I hiked in the past. But I think you can imagine the feeling I got when I saw that the castle is only about 2 minutes away.

Finally! We made it! I have to catch my breath, eat a snack, put my jacket back on because damn it's cold up here.

The actual exploring of the castle was brilliant. I adore castles from the bottom of my dark, sad heart, and I love climbing all around them - though I still am a little cowardly and not a fan of falling (I always rush to climb something, like a little mountain goat, but then climb down like a foal that stood up for the first time). My mother does hate this quality about me and would rather I stay on the path.

There is just so much to see in old ruins. You can breathe in the air and taste the history in it - or it's the cold wind that's freezing up your lungs, yeah, probably that.

The way back.. lots more woods.

An open oak forest - "perfect for mushrooms!" says my brother, excited like a little kid, always glancing to the side with hope that he will find at least one. I'm not sure how long it took us to get back, but we were all positively starving by now and couldn't wait to stuff our faces as soon as we got home.

It took us another few hours to get home, but this was a trip well worth it.

I have a few questions for you, my darling reader. You don't have to answer them, of course, but if you're willing..

Have you ever been to a castle ruin? If not, why, and would you like to?

Do you like hiking? What's your favourite weather to hike in?

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy yourself?

Do you like going on trips with your family, or friends?

Would you like to see more posts like this?