Trip
Kežmarok castle (6th november 2013)
In the place of the present-day castle, the Church of St. Elisabeth stood in the 2nd half of the 13th century. The church belonged to the village of the Saxon colonists. The bases of the church and the adjacent buildings were uncovered in 1964 and they can be observed in the present-day castle courtyard. The castle belongs to the type of the so-called town castles. It was built right in the area of the Town of Kežmarok in order to protect it against the possible enemies. However, finally, its owners fought against Kežmarok, which did not want to give up its rights of the royal town and to become just an ordinary peasant town.
The castle is very often mentioned in connection with the Zápoľský family – the first written record about the castle dates back to 1463. In 1528, the castle fell into possession of Hieronym Lasky. His son Albert had always had financial problems, which he solved by getting married to the Polish noblewoman Beata Kościeleska. She was 20 years older than he. In 1565, she went on a first known trip to the High Tatras. As she undertook it without her husband, which was considered a very impertinent act, she had been imprisoned in one of the castle towers for several years and her husband took possession of her whole estate.
Through several transactions and prepaying, the castle and illegally also the whole Town of Kežmarok got into the hands of Ján Rueber – the Captain of the Upper Hungary. Finally, in 1579, it was gained by the Thököly family. Its four generations – Šebastián, István I. (Stephen I.),István II. (Stephen II.) and Imre had been living in the castle until 1684.(…more informations about Kežmarok castle)
