Ika

Ika Castle is in the municipality of Felsőcsernáton (Cernatu de Sus) is located in Csernáton, in Romania, in the Székely region, Kovászna county. The village was mentioned as Felső-Chernáthon in 1497.

Location: https://tinyurl.com/4wn2fefp

At its boundaries, on the narrow ridge of the Bodoki hill, above the confluence of the Nagy and Ika streams, stand the remains of Ika Castle. Now, it is also called the Stunted Tower of Csernáton. Its construction dates back to the second half of the 13th century, although according to Orbán Balázs, it had been built a lot earlier than the 13th century. He thought it was an example of the ancient Székely castle construction.

The castle could only be approached from the south. The fortifications were protected by a defensive ditch that extended down to the valleys of streams. As it was not built on a high hilltop, it was more likely a private castle.

The castle now looks like a watch tower. The walled enclosure is 169 metres long, 15 metres wide at the southern end, 24 metres wide in the central part, and 15-16 metres wide at the northern end. Only one of the towers, originally 20 metres high, is still standing. The higher level of the tower collapsed during an earthquake in the 19th century, but recently it has been restored, and it has undergone a series of successful and less successful conservation works. Small archaeological investigations have also been carried out.

We don’t know who Ika was, but it’s hard to believe that an Árpád-era Székely nobleman would have built such a large castle. We should certainly consider it as part of a wider picture of other archaic stone castles with unknown histories in Transylvania and beyond.

Jókai Mór wrote about it, that ropes were let down from above when they brought food….. the cowards in battle were punished for their cowardly behaviour, that they could come down when they saw the enemy approaching, the Székely population of the countryside fled this way when the raiding troops broke through the three mountain passes…..The nearby settlement called Futásfalva (“Running-village”) immortalised the times of yesteryear in its name!

Orbán Balázs also wrote about it in his “Description of Székely Land”:

“We have no historical data about this castle; from the obscure data of the Csíki Chronicle, we know only that Ika was one of the smaller Rabonbans (Szekler nobles), and that Uopulet (Apold) lived in a struggle with this Rabonban. Tradition says that Ika was the leader of King Póka, who, having fled from the castle of Bálványos, marched here and built himself a castle, but was killed in a bloody battle on the site of the present Ikafalva. According to this, the hero who founded Ikafalva (“Ika’s village”), from whose blood the fountain of Furus sprang up, would have been Ika.

Then a giant moved into his castle, a man with huge wings, who in his anger once struck the castle’s rock, and the place of his great fist is still shown. This giant often flew down to the tower of the church in Csernáton to frighten people.

According to another tale, a giant serpent dwelt in this castle, so large that, encircling the tower with his tail, he would stoop down with his head to drink in the stream, and at other times he would stoop down to catch those who passed by in his castle; a foreign soldier killed this serpent after a long struggle.

Is not the victory of Christianity over the ancient faith allegorically represented in this last tale, and the giant striking the tower of Csernáton, did it not represent some Székely ancestor fighting against Christianity? and is not the serpent slain by the foreign soldier connected with the story of St. George’s fight with the dragon?”

Another legend says that the castle was built by giants. They were so big that one of them would stand with one foot in the stream and pass the stones to the other, who would build the walls. These giants were roaming around and frightened the locals.

There used to be many water mills along the stream below the castle. The millers kept the tradition that the treasure was kept in the cellar-tubs under the tower, but it was guarded by a red and a black rooster, who took turns to keep watch. If anyone tries to enter the cellar, the rooster crows and the iron door slams shut.

This legendary tower has been renovated and roofed in recent years, thanks to the initiative of the local government. It is as if it stands guard over the neighbouring Csókás spring, which is a place to relax and enjoy the local hospitality.

Sources: djnaploja, D. Oszuskó Sarolta

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Here are a few pictures of Ika Castle: