Detrekő castle and the Pálffy palace
Detrekő (Plavecké Podhradie) is located in the Little Carpathians, it is in the Upper lands/Horná Zem/Felvidék, in Slovakia, not very far from Pozsony (Bratislava, Pressburg). Here is a video about the castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-FnKAZ-B0
The castle was built in the 13th century and belonged to the Hungarian king. It was besieged by King Ottokar in 1273 but the Czech ruler could not take it. Later, Lord Csák Máté was equally unsuccessful. (Please, note that I use the Oriental name order for Hungarians where family names come first.)
The castle was owned by Count Szentgyörgyi and Count Bazini, then it belonged to the Serédy and later to the Salm family. Then, it was given to the Fuggers, and then King Ferdinand I bought it and gave it to the Balassa family. In the time of Lord Balassa Menyhárt, the locals called the castle „Gyötrőkő” („Torturing-stone”).
Bornemissza Péter, the great author of the 16th century was living and working in Detrekő when its lord was Balassa István, the son of Menyhárt. Bornemissza used to be the teacher of the greatest Hungarian warrior-poet, Balassa Bálint, and had his works printed there. Bornemissza was buried near Detrekő, in the village of Rárbok.
The Pálffy family was related to the Fuggers and they could get the castle in 1641. They built a more comfortable palace in the village in the Renaissance style. Unfortunately, it cannot be visited now because some kind of office is located there.
The middle part of the castle was built in Gothic style, with a rectangular tower and a palace. In the 16th century, it was extensively rebuilt into a renaissance fortress with low courtyards. It was continually fortified and maintained during the 17th century when new cannon bastions were built.
The Hungarian rebel “kuruc” troops of Prince Rákóczi Ferenc took the castle but the Habsburgs regained in 1707 when General Starhemberg defeated there the army of General Ocskay László. It became dilapidated in the 18th century. There were 27 villages that belonged to the castle of Detrekő.
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