ORAVA CASTLE – Alajournal

Orava Castle perched atop a steep rock hill 112 m above the river Orava. The construction began around the middle of the 13th century after the Mongol invasion of 1241. The first written reference to it mentiones Castrum Arva and is dated to 1267, as the property of the Old Hungarian king Belo IV. This boundary fort was built to protect the northern boundary of the Old Hungarian state and to protect the Amber trade route. Many other owners followed and the construction continued until it reached its present-day look in the picture. And my Slovak white-blue-red flag is blowing in the wind 🙂

Oravský Podzámok is the name of a little village under the Orava Castle. The first written mention comes from as late as 1559 when the castle servants, handicraft workers and office workers had lived here. Now it has a population of appr. 1300 inhabitants

We can read NÁRODNÁ KULTÚRNA PAMIATKA on the plaque with inscription which means National Cultural Heritage Monument in Slovak language and it enhances the value of this castle as a monument of our Slovak nation. There are 72 of them in Slovakia

Partial view of the entrance gate and a castle toilet which is seen towards the left top of the corner of the building

This is a close up of an original castle toilet – how it looks from the outside 🙂

Entrance gate door close up – with an interesting handle, which seemed quite new to me in comparison with ancient door itself, but I might be mistaken

Proceed from the main entrance gate uphills to the gate with a draw bridge. Walk past beautiful red geraniums – the most popular pot flowers of Slovakia

Beautifully preserved draw bridge is not a common sight as mostly they were removed and remodelled

Pass by an old historic carriage on your way to an old fortification tunnel

How interesting – this curved tunnel corridor connects the entrance gate area of the lower castle with the middle castle main courtyard

There is light at the end of the tunnel – or there is the main courtyard which even “starred” in a movie – as early as in 1921 right here Nosferatu the Vampire was shot and this very courtyard can be seen in the movie, too

Looking up at the upper castle. Present day castle construction began in the 13th Century. However this place had been inhabited even earlier than this, as early as in prehistoric times. There was an earlier Slavic castle on this site in the 9th Century. The first written mention of Orava Castle dates back to 1267 as I have already mentioned. It protected the fabled Amber Route, the most important trade connection between the Baltic and the Meditteranean. To the right the 16th century cannon bastion protecting the main courtyard can be seen and 15th century late gothic style Corvinus palace is to the left.

Meals had to be prepared excellently in the kitchen. In case Thurzo would not like something – the cook risked his head – he would be made shorter by the head

We encounter the White Lady of Orava Castle in the corridor. She is a tragic figure as her hand was cut off by her husband, knight Dvonč, and she died because of it. Now the castle is reputedly haunted by her. I was not scared, her impression on me was peaceful and calm. Maybe through her suffering she achieved serenity. I wonder what happened to her husband´s soul and where his soul is burning eternally… Was he really a knight? I would associate different qualities with this title… 🙁

Enemies beware!

Enemies beware even more and more!

The castle has its own chapel consecrated to Archangel Michael. Following the death of Juraj Thurzo in 1616 his widow Alžbeta Czoborová had the chapel altered to burial chapel and the remains of her husband were put into the crypt there as well as the remains of their only son Imrich six years later. In 1926 Alžbeta herself passed away. Except the members of Thurzo family Henkel family has their crypt there, too

Coat of Arms room named after beautifully carved chairs bearing coats of arms. The very first one from the right bears the coat of arms of my country Slovakia

If you look carefully at this picture of old original wall paintings you will see a man throwing his unfaithful wife out of the window. They can be seen in the left part of the picture in the window under the roof of the bigger tower. Is this story connected with the story of a large wardrobe in the master bedroom? The wardrobe which we can see, too, has separate compartments and allegedly was ordered by the lady of the castle so that she could have not one but as many as three lovers with her at the same time without them knowing about each other

You have to climb these wooden staircases to get to the upper part of the castle…

… and continue climbing steps carved out of rock

Your effort will be paid off by beautiful views. The village square of Oravský Podzámok can be seen here

Here the main courtyard can be seen with Archangel Michael chapel. The river Orava can be seen in the background. Rafting using historic style wooden rafts is enjoyable on the river, however this time no time. Maybe next time when I return

Beautiful rooms with beautiful furniture can be admired in the castle – doesn´t this photo look like a still life of a romantic painting?

This was the room of the guards – soldiers would use it

Many beautiful Slovak national costumes are exhibited in one of the castle rooms

Life and work of common village folks

Such pretty garments were worn on festive occasions or to the church

Beautiful Slovak landscape

I just cannot get enough of this beautiful view. My white-blue-red Slovak national flag can be seen above the middle courtyard

The Archeologial Exhibition in the Upper Castle where the earliest history of Orava region is documented. The two objects almost in the middle of the picture are reputedly an old time bra

Isn´t this awesome. People in front of the Dubovec palace = 5 story palace commisioned by Ján of Dubovec who owned the castle 1538-1543

Traditional wooden raft on the river Orava under the Orava Castle rock in the beautiful Orava region countryside as seen from Orava Castle

Many movies made use of the location of Orava Castle and this room is dedicated to them. Count Orlok is staring at us from the showcase, intending to taste our blood 🙂 German actor Max Schreck (1879-1936) scared audiences in Nosferatu the Vampire, German silent horror movie, which I have already mentioned when we were at the main courtyard as the exteriors were filmed here