Cseszneki Castle (Hungary)

The fortress dates back to the great post-Tatar period of the Tatar invasion of 1241-42. The first castle was built around 1263 by the royal sword bearer (ensifer regis) of the genus Bána, Jakab Cseszneki, on a rocky peak that is excellent for defense. The first mention of the castle is preserved in a charter from 1281, according to which the sons of Giacomo could share the castle together. In 1315 the Csák took the castle, but in 1323 Lampert was returned to the estate by Mihály Cseszneki and his son János Cseszneki, but they sold it to the Csák clan for Pázmándfalu and 100 silver denarii. King Charles Robert annexed the wildlife-rich area to royal estates. In 1392, Sigismund of Luxembourg ceded the castle of Csesznek together with the thirty-one villages belonging to his fief to the noble family of the Garai, for their southern possessions. The castle remained in the possession of the Garai family until 1482, the year in which the son branch died out. King Matthias gave it to his treasurer, István Szapolyai, in 1483. It was occupied by Ferdinand I in 1527, then fell into foreign hands. Csesznek and his estate were given to Pál Bakics, who owned it until his death in 1537. For a short time the castle was also in the hands of Bálint Török, then in 1540 it was given to István Csaby, who was the captain in chief by Eger. Later it fell into the hands of the Csaby - Wathay families.

In the mid-16th century, the conquering Turks invaded Transdanubia, where Csesznek, led by Captain Lőrinc Wathay, defended the country as a border fortress. His life died out in a tragic accident, in 1573 he wanted to fire a cannon full of old gunpowder in his wine-drunk glee, which the sniper next to him was reluctant to do. Captain Lawrence snatched the torch from his hand, lit the wick, and the cannon exploded with a huge explosion, killing them both. After the fall of Győr in 1594, the castle fell into Turkish hands, but was already taken over in 1598. A 16-17. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was owned by the family of Count Cseszneky. In 1605 he surrendered to the troops of István Bocskai and in 1619 the chiefs of Gábor Bethlen, György Haller and Péter Fekete, occupied the castle. Based on the peace of Nikolsburg in 1622, it again became a royal estate. During the Rákóczi War of Independence, there was a warehouse for ammunition and food in the castle, but it was also a meeting place for prisoners of war. In 1708 it was besieged in vain by the imperial armies, but in 1709 they managed to take it.

After the war, the role of the castle changed, the sturdy stone castle was transformed by the Counts of Esterházy into a baroque castle offering comfortable accommodation. According to contemporary sources, the aristocratic family moved in 1780, but the slave staff still used the premises, rendered completely unusable by an earthquake thirty years later and then by a fire. During excavations in 1967-69, information was gathered about the condition of the 13th century castle, despite the fact that the ruins found roughly correspond to the conditions of the 16th century.

In 1947, exterior shots of the castle were filmed in Somewhere in Europe.

The first climbing routes in Hungary were opened near the castle in the summer of 2013. The "Strada degli Sedi" is C, that is of medium resistance and 120 meters long, the length of the "Strada Panoramica del Castello" of difficulty D is 180 meters long, while the most difficult (grade E) Zoltán The Tálos Memorial Road is 70 meters long.

[Source: Wikipedia]