The tallest building is a palace with a defense tower and beneath it are further fortified palaces, a chapel and residential and farm buildings. The original castle consisted of a prismatic tower and a residential palace with a common fortification. After the reconstruction of František Bebek in the 16th century the castle acquired a triangular ground plan with semicircular bastions on the corners. The original castle thus got to the center of the area. The Andrassy family later turned the upper castle into a representative residence and completed the lower castle. They built a new gate under the cannon bastion, extending the lower courtyard. In the second half of the 17th century, they built a representative residential wing between the SE bastion and the third gate in front of the SW bastion, connected it to the castle palace and built a county seating hall on the upper floor. They built a covered Renaissance gallery and staircase to the representative rooms. They raised the palace by one floor and built a new building in the courtyard between the palace and the north wall. In 1770, the Andrássy family rebuilt a horseshoe bastion into a chapel, and at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries they built a reverent space in the ground floor of the central crypt castle and in the Bebek wing. Thus the rebuilding of the castle into the family museum was completed. The last modification was the reconstruction of the Monuments Board in Žilina in the second half of the 20th century.Situation before the fire in 2012: The castle was a branch of the Museum in Betliar. The exhibition was located in three parts of the castle, in the core of the exhibition was dedicated to the ancient past - the prehistoric eastern part of Gemer, rare exhibits of the Romanesque and Gothic times (combat equipment and equipment), craft activities in and around the castle. The torture chamber documented demonstrations of unique tools used in coercion. In four rooms of the Bebekov wing, a memorial museum was opened, as well as a castle chapel with a classicist interior, and the Andrássy family tomb next to the chapel.The fire damaged the castle and some exhibits, some of them were transported to Betliar. At present, the castle is still being reconstructed.

The oldest core of the guard castle with a square residential tower and an adjoining fortified courtyard does not exclude the possibility of the building in the second half of the 13th century. The castle probably stands on the site of an older fortified settlement. We consider the Batizov and Mariássy families to be the first builders of the castle, who probably built it around 1320 on the territory acquired from the Bebek family. Of course, it is not possible to speak of a castle in today's sense of the word, because it was only a fortified Gothic residential tower (donjon) at the very top of the limestone mound. However, the Bebek family later discovered that the sold property had a much higher value, mainly due to the mineral wealth located in the area, and a several-year dispute began with the return of the area with the castle. In 1352, the Bebek family won the dispute and the castle became their property until 1556, when the last of the family left for Transylvania.

Meanwhile, in 1441, Spark's army occupied Gemer and Krásná Hôrka, but it did not destroy the castle, and when the garrison left the castle, the Bebek family reached the castle again. The danger of Turkish incursions later forced the modernization and construction of a new fortification system. The most significant reconstruction took place behind the legends of the brutal cruel František Bebek. At that time, the castle received a new fortification with a floor plan of an irregular triangle with three massive corner bastions. A cannon terrace was built between the bastions on the east side, on which heavy cannons cast in 1545 and 1547 still stand. They referred to themselves as "robber knights" who allegedly cast cannons from church bells. During the Turkish invasions, the Turks, with the support of the emperor himself, also occupied Fiľak Castle, which belonged to Bebek. After František Bebek found out, he attacked the imperial troops and attacked the aristocratic residences in the area. He began minting his own coins (the existence of a secret mint is documented by one of the rooms in the upper castle) and opposed King Ferdinand. Ferdinand sent an army against Bebek, but Bebek allied with the Turks and in 1556 drove the imperial army to Rožňava. As late as September 1556, he fought against the emperor with the help of Turkish troops, but was soon punished by exile. He was declared a traitor, deprived of all titles and functions. He went to Transylvania to become an imperial administrator. He was probably murdered in 1558. The fate of the Bebek family is very unclear after these events. There are also mentions of his son Juraj, who, unlike his father, became a supporter of the Counter-Reformation. He even became a Gemer robe, but he probably never managed to get rid of his father's bad reputation. He died without descendants in 1567. Juraj died of this important, but little known and unexplored family, which significantly affected the medieval history not only of Gemer, but of the whole Kingdom of Hungary.

The castle then came under the administration of the imperial court, which administered the Krasnohorské estate through the castle captains. In eight years, up to seven of them took turns. One of the last was Peter I. Andrássy, the first of the Andrássy family in Krásná Hôrka and in Gemer in general, who began the reconstruction of the castle. In 1642, after a long effort, Matthew II. from the Andrássy family, the castle came into its ownership and the castle was rebuilt into a noble representative seat. In the 17th century, the castle was expanded with other buildings - the lower castle and the middle castle, which probably served for representational purposes. A small courtyard was created between the old Bebek and the new Renaissance palace. During this period, the construction industry is linked to the figure of Nicholas I, who became the mayor of the Gemer Committee and the royal adviser. During his era, the castle became the seat of the county, which also explains the construction of new representative and residential spaces. When Thököly's troops seized the castle in 1678, they forced Mikuláš Andrássy to join the insurgents. Therefore, in 1685, the imperial army besieged Krásná Hôrka, but without success. Juraj Andrássy, the son of Mikuláš, became the founder of a new branch of the family. In the 18th century, Krásna Hôrka lost its strategic and military significance and became the private residence of the Andrássy family. The castle was renovated after 1710, at the same time as the Betliar manor house, which was owned by his brother Štefan. The Baroque chapel was built by rebuilding the cannon bastion in 1770. The castle burned down in 1818 and was repaired in an emergency by Štefan's wife, but the castle remained uninhabited in this condition for a long time. The beautiful Hôrka eventually became the family museum of the Andrássy family.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Count Dionýz Andrássy had the castle restored. During this reconstruction, a new spacious family tomb was built on the ground floor of the middle castle. The restoration also involved a small funeral chapel under today's cannon terrace, which was built by Juraj IV. to his mother in 1828, as evidenced by a large iron plaque with the inscription CINERIBUS OPTIMAE MATRIS MDCCCXXVIII (Best Mother 1828). The rooms above the passage of the third gate were also renovated, where Count Dionýz Andrássy set up a reverent museum for his wife Františka. Dionýz Andrássy was the last male descendant of the Andrássy branch.

The castle and the whole estate were nationalized by Beneš's decrees in 1945, in 1948 the National Cultural Commission declared it a state cultural property, 13 years later it was included as a national cultural monument and since 1996 it is under the administration of the Slovak National Museum as part of the Betliar Museum.

On March 10, 2012, a large fire broke out in the castle, as a result of which the roof of the castle was severely damaged. All the roofs burned down, including the interior of the upper Gothic castle. The alleged cause of the fire was the ignition of the grass in the area caused by negligence.

The legend of the castle

In the castle chapel there is a glass coffin with a naturally mummified corpse of a woman, whom tradition identifies with Žofia Serédyová, the wife of Kuruk general Štefan Andrássy, the heroine of Jókai's novel Levočská biela pani.

The legend of Bebek

As early as the time of the robber knight and the perverted money changer of the European caliber František Bebek, it was said: golden Kremnica, copper Bystrica, silver Štiavnica, thieving Krásna Hôrka ...

Bebek's night trips in 1526 took on such a dimension that even when his name was spoken, people in Gemer, Spiš and Liptov shook for fear. He tore bells from church towers and cast cannons from them in the courtyard of Krásná Hôrka. It was also said that counterfeit coins were secretly minted by excellent masters in Košice.

Just before dusk, two riders appeared over Krásná Hôrka. They carefully descended Pačanský vrch. The restless horses, tired of riding for a long time, instinctively felt the proximity of the city. They quickened their pace on the steep sidewalk. The men in the saddle left the bridles loose, because they were supposed to be in Rožňava until dark. The castle castellan, Bebek's confidential companion, was to wait for them in the inn "U permoníka". If they missed an hour of the meeting, they would have to wait for the traffic light. The castle was not in the inn. The two pilgrims sat down so that they could watch the western side of Krásná Hôrka through a small window. In the meantime, it was getting dark, so they didn't miss the flickering torch light. The signal from the castle meant a meeting at the agreed place in front of Nadabula. Unsuccessful adepts on the executioner's hills in Košice knew that they would come to the ducats with the Bebek's retinue in one night. That night, however, His Majesty Bebek had a completely different plan. The bells wait, the buyers leave ... The scouts have brought the news that after the "golden" road leading to Smolník and Gelnice, a kind of bandit Kauffang - a catcher of buyers - is starting to mix into Bebek's craft. During the day, dear citizen of Košice, at night a ruthless bandit. Whoever he catches, he robs of all goods. The most common were furs, but also gold and silver, salt, wine and cattle. Kauffang, a man of several faces, also had his companions at Dunajec Castle, where he secretly transported his victims and then asked them to be redeemed from captivity ... According to contemporary writers, Knight Bebek simply could not suffer such unfair competition in his own district. He sends a letter to the fathers of the city of Košice, in which he himself takes on the role of avenger. In the letter, he promises that he will transport the leader of the robber gang Kauffang in handcuffs in front of the city gates so that he will be punished with a fair punishment there. In an attempt to correct his bad card, but mainly the reputation of the bell robber and money changer, Bebek led the three offenders in handcuffs all over Gemer and Spiš. He then had them transported to the gates of the city of Košice so that the city council could decide on their future. The court of the city was merciful to the bandits. They were not flogged or buried alive, but only cut down ... Read more...

The main sinner Bebek kept a secret connection with some of the burghers of Košice. Levoča's chronicler Sperfógel Bebeka describes as follows: "In one year (1533), the Bebek family stole so many bells that the Košice armourers poured up to 54 cannons from them ..." The activities of the robber dynasty of the owner of the Krásna Hôrka castle were much more varied. However, history has obscured much of the veil of time and oblivion. However, they were worse than the impending Turkish invasion. Apparently this is where the folk saying comes from: worse Turk, turtle ...

Cannons and counterfeit coins were to become the strategy of Bebek, who was ready to fight the Turks, but also the imperial army. However, his bad strategy was revived. After the plundering of Gelnice and Smolník, as well as the burning of Tichá voda, the situation escalated so much that the damaged nobles, as well as the anger of the citizens from the free royal cities, turned against Bebek. He was not lazy, but allied himself with the Turks. The imperial dream punishes Bebek by taking away his property. Bebek does not submit, so the emperor sends a large and strong army against the castle Krásna Hôrka. The imperial army was divided into two parts behind the towns of Jelšava and Plešivec. Bebek leaves Krásná Hôrka with his party. Gold coins and other plundered valuables are stored in his carriage. He rushes down Sorožka. He looks around once more to see the contours of his castle. Then he has no idea that he saw him for the last time. The first imperial scouts are behind him. In Turnianský Podhradí, a wheel breaks under an overloaded carriage. Bebek stops at Turnian Castle, but then his fear of the imperial army drove him all the way to Transylvania. The imperial army was domesticated in the halls of Krásná Hôrka. At that time, Bebek was already hunting in the Transylvanian mountains. However, he does not forget Krásná Hôrka. Maybe he regrets his actions and bandit sidewalks. On one day in December, twelve riders will cross the city gates in Levoča. They are led by a "man from Gelnice". The destination is secret. When asked by the keeper of the gate, where they are aimed, the commander of the riders only indicates the direction with a copy. The Imperial Scout knows the place where his Majesty's archenemy is hiding.

Fate befell František Bebek on a forest clearing. Leaning over the catch, he heard footsteps. When he straightened up he was surrounded by unknown soldiers. Bebek still doesn't understand that it's over, he doesn't believe it even after the first chop. The blade of his sword pierced his leather coat. He felt a sharp pain. "You fought with the sword, you will die with the sword," he heard a voice coming to him as if from a great distance. Behind the bend of the road, Bebek's companions appeared, witnesses to the drama. They did not move their horses to help their captain. The Imperial Criminal Expedition completed its mission. The last of the Bebek family breathed in a foreign country.

Castle Krásna Hôrka is closed from 10 March 2012 due to reconstruction work

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