Remains of extinct castle on 11m high rock, which is located in Zoltánka city park in Tornaľa
The remains of the walls on the eastern side of the rock cone were discovered by István B. Kovács in the mid-1990s. During the excavation work, a fortification system consisting of ditches and ramparts was examined. In the inner courtyard, a 500 x 500 cm stone building with an entrance to the north was uncovered. The defense system on the west side of the castle was also examined. There was originally a wooden structure, as evidenced by a group of pit, but it can no longer be more accurately reconstructed.Nowadays it is possible to see the foundations of the walls of some rooms in the bushes. The wall around them was almost completely destroyed. Zoltán Tornallyay built the remnants of the ruins that are currently seen in the rock on the SW side in the 19th century. At the top of the rock was probably the structure of the tower, but today is destroyed and leaves no traces, what was also confirmed by archaeological research.
The building is first mentioned as a wooden watchtower at the top of the gate, which was built by the Gemer Guards at the turn of the 10th and XI. century. This necessary wooden tower was destroyed especially during the invasion of the Tatars. In 1245 he received a certain Bolok from King Bel IV. Kewi estate (Kövi). It is said that he built a fortified seat on a steep rock, the central building of which was probably a residential tower, surrounded at the foot of the rock by a moat and a rampart. Some of the projects attribute the construction of the tower to Felicián, the son of Gaal, who was a Hungarian Spanish in 1284. Later, a stone extension was added to the tower on the western side of the rock wall, along which are the remaining remains of the perimeter walls.
In 1291, the document again mentions the tower under which the village of Toronyalja was formed (from the Hungarian toronyalja - under the tower). In 1325 the castle belonged to John and the other sons of Gaal. The castle and the village also became the seat of the Tornallyays, who are also associated with fortifications and building alterations.
Information about the demise of the castle in Tornali has not been preserved, it probably took place at 14-15. century, no historical period of extinction dates back to the 16th century, when the aristocratic residence of its inhabitants left, the masonry dismantled the buildings and could build a manor.
In the 19th century, Zoltán Tornallyay established an English park with an artificial excavated cave and a pond on this site. On the side protrusion of the limestone took an artificially created ruin, which we can see on the rock even today.
Lady without lips
In 1241 the Tatars defeated the troops of Bela IV. in the Battle of the Slaná River (Battle of Muhi) and crossed the Slaná River Valley, hungry for prey. The Tornallyay family fled to the Vasas and Cselény forests with their servants at that time, while only their daughter Žofia remained at the castle. Here the Tatars found her and interrogated her, where the treasures are hidden and where the entrance to the tunnel leading to the Gemer Castle is. However, Žofia was persistent and did not reveal anything, so the Tatars cut off her nose and lips so that she could never speak again.
The ruins are freely accessible