Like the history of so many castles, Orava Castle in Slovakia has a quite convoluted history.
Over the 700 years of it’s existence, it was besieged, set on fire, rebuilt, partially destroyed, set on fire again, added on to, and changed hands more times than anyone actually knows.
From the Hungarians to the Austrians to the Turks, to the Czech, to the Turks, to the Hungarians, to the Germans, to the Russians, to the Czechoslovakians, to the Slovaks.
I think I got that right.
Regardless, one thing makes it different than many other castles we’ve seen – the sheer size of the place.
Taking a guided tour up through the various levels of the castle takes over an hour, and you climb hundreds of feet up to the original castle on top of the hill.
There is also a beautiful chapel which has recently been restored.
A guy from Lichtenstein was buried here in the castle… It made me think of Knight’s Tale.
Occasionally, exploring castles makes me wish that I lived in a time when I could have lived in an actual castle. However, looking at the beds of the king and queen of the castle, and seeing how they had large spaces underneath them. I realized (as I often do after having the wish) about the nature and purpose of a castle. The beds were raised to keep the people warmer. They were also raised to make sure that the mice and rats running underneath would decide to stay out of the beds.
Additionally in old castles, the water was often bad, the smell in some castles was terrible due to the stagnant water of the moat defending them, and if the castle was attacked (the whole purpose to have a castle,) you might end up defending it with your life.
I’m happy with the time in which I live, and really enjoyed the time spent with Peter, Lucia, and Ivo.