Šášov castle
castle ruin
340m
Šášovské Podhradie, Banská Bystrica county

The ruins of the castle are situated in the outskirts of the Štiavnické vrchy hills on a steep, left bank rock directly above the valley of the river Hron. Located in the village Šášovské Podhradie

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Previous names
Susal, castrum de Susol, Saasku, castrum Saaskw, Sassow, Saskő, Szászkő, Sachsenstein
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How to get there
15 min
+81m/-6m
The ascent to the Šášov castle begins right in the village of Šášovské Podhradie, where there are a few parking spaces next to the building in which the museum is established. From there, a green marked hiking trail leads to the castle.
Description

The ruins of Šášov Castle are concentrated around a central elongated inner castle topped with a circular bastion. In front of it is the access road to the castle, which led here through the bailey with a small bastion. The castle has been preserved a relatively large and large part, full of interesting architectural details.The dominant buildings here were the cylindrical tower at the entrance on the west side and the palace on the east side. In the elongated courtyard a circular tank was dug as the only source of drinking water. The construction of the northern palace was associated with greater water consumption, and in the middle of the courtyard was excavated a second tank. However, the final solution to the water supply at Šášov Castle was a permanent source - a well in the bailey. The highest Gothic palace, which forms the basis of the upper castle, was often rebuilt. In the long narrow inner courtyard were occupied residential buildings and at the end of the terrace at the highest point was a palace, later secured by a triangular tower. The upper castle was considered from the palace to the courtyard, which was closed by a large round bastion protecting the entrance to the upper castle. In front of it, the fortified courtyard was lined with residential buildings at the end with a round watchtower.The castle was well fortified in the Renaissance. On the neck of the mountain back was a spacious lower courtyard, which provided defense of the Gothic-Renaissance upper castle.

Plan
Legend to the ground plan:1-upper castle, 2-tower, 3-Gothic palace, 4-chapel with cistern, 5-renaissance dwellings and outbuildings, 6-second cistern, 7-entrance gate, 8-first fort, 9-second fort, 10- well, 11-entrance gate
Legend to the ground plan
  • 1-upper castle
  • 2-tower
  • 3-Gothic palace
  • 4-chapel with cistern
  • 5-renaissance dwellings and outbuildings
  • 6-second cistern
  • 7-entrance gate
  • 8-first fort
  • 9-second fort
  • 10- well
  • 11-entrance gate
History

In the past, when the Tatar raids subsided, brothers Vincent and Peter of the Vancha / Bancsa family, Vančaj / probably founded the foundations of a castle called Susal. However, the initial history of the castle is unknown. It is first mentioned in a document from 1253. In 1283, the brothers of Cardinal Štefan, Tomáš, son Petrov and Orbas exchanged their parish estate for Šášov Castle with the Archbishop of Esztergom Lodomier. Around 1306, the castle was occupied by the troops of Matúš Čák Trenčiansky. The castle was owned only until 1321, when Matúš Čák died. Until 1329, Count Ján and Imrich Bečej of Štiavnica were castle castles in Šášov. In 1336, the castle was the castellan son of Imrich Bečej, called Vesszös (Prútkár), who forcibly appropriated six villages belonging to the town of Štiavnica. He was succeeded by Ladislav Köbölkuthy (1352). During the castellanism of Köbölkuthy, the people of Štiavnica turned with a written bill to King Ľudovít, who, by order of April 21, 1352, returned the appropriated villages to the Štiavnica family. These castellans also disturbed the Hronsko-Svatobeňadice abbey, plundered it and, whenever possible, damaged its property. The castellans Baška of Kostoliany (1362) and Peter of Branč (1373) did an extraordinary amount of damage. In 1387, King Sigismund donated the castle and manor to Baron Frank and Simon Szécsény. In 1390, Sigismund donated the castle to Lenšťak of Jelšava, after whom his son Juraj inherited it. In 1393, the king exchanged it for Šariš Castle with Juraj of Štítnik. In 1401 the owner of the castle was Sigismund of Štítnik, son of Juraj, in 1413 the castle became a royal property again.

In 1424, King Sigismund donated the Shashites to his wife, Queen Barbara. In the years 1441-1447, the castle was owned by the Hussite Peter Kollár. In 1477, King Matej Korvín donated Šášov Castle and Revište to his wife Beatrix. After the death of King Matej, the widow Beatrix donated Šášov to the Archbishop of Jáger, Urban Dóczy of Veľká Lúče. The Dóczy family rebuilt the castle into a fortified Renaissance aristocratic residence, secured by a fort. Šášov was the property of the Dóczy family until 1647, when, after the extinction of the family, it became the property of the mining chamber. In 1650, Gašpar Lippay acquired the castle estate.

Busy times came from 1664, when Count Souches and the imperial army defeated the Turkish troops in many places and obtained some castles from them. In 1677, however, the defenders of the castles of Šášov and Revište did not withstand the cruel onslaught of Imrich Thököly's army. Šášov Castle was destroyed around 1708, when the imperial troops blew up the castle at the last moment so that Turkish troops would not get it. However, Revište Castle remained in its entirety for unknown reasons. However, Šášov has not been repaired since then and could not perform a defensive function. Since then, the castle was deserted.

The first project of restoring the castle began in 2009, when the niche of the western window opening of the second above-ground floor began to be restored on the cannon bastion. Since 2013, more intensive rescue work has been underway at the castle under the leadership of the Šášov Castle Rescue Association.

History images
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Myths and legends

The legend of the castle

It is said that there is a mysterious underground corridor that was supposed to lead from the castle to the manor house in Ladomerská Vieska. There is a buried woman with a child and her husband, who found their death there during a fire in the Ladomer manor house at the beginning of the 17th century while trying to escape by flame.

A rumor about a clown

The lord of Zvolen was returning from hunting day by day annoying. He crossed the mountain, and the bears seemed to swallow the ground. You also drew the court fool out of him. Supposedly, shouldn't he be chasing the beast? If so, well. In the morning, the master took his word for it. They went, and they went. The sun was approaching the horizon when they finally cast a bushy macaque. Well, don't worry. The hunter was missing from the coveted prey. It was bad. Sasha didn't want hunting fame, but when he saw the irritated monster of his companion bloody, he grabbed an ax and cut. It so happened that the lord had a castle built on a cliff above the place of the match and out of gratitude he gave it to his rescuer. After him, they named the fortress Šašov.

Useful information

The ruins are freely accessibleMore info

Nearby castles
Starý Zámok13.3 km,
Nový Zámok13.7 km,
Kremnica14.2 km,
Revište14.5 km,
Pustý hrad15.6 km,
Zvolen castle16.8 km,
Žarnovica17.0 km,