InfoHub - Huniad castle

+-- Huniad (aka Corvinus/Corvin) Castle

Location: city of Hunedoara, district Hunedoara, southwestern Transylvania, Romania
Other names:
Hungarian: Vajdahunyad, Hunyadvar
German: Eisenmarkt, Huniadstadt
Other: Hannedeng, Hunyadiopolis

The castle stands atop a rocky outcrop on the southwestern edge of town. Its structure with great halls and rooms, large towers, high walls and battlements is built around an inner courtyard. Branching off from the main structure and rising slightly above the rest of the castle is the “Ne boisa” (“Fear not”) tower connected through a tall gallery.

The access is made through a large bridge of which the last section was a drawbridge type of structure. The gate is a short and thick opening. The castle is surrounded by a moat and a small river runs at the base on one side, underneath the bridge.

The origins of the medieval castle are obscure. It is said that the castle was built on earlier Roman foundations. During the 1300s, it was a small defensive castle/citadel of ellipsoidal shape (two sharp angled ends on the north-south axis, enclosed area about 75m by 30m), consisting of a dungeon, a few rooms and defensive walls, this being the starting point of later developments and enlargements, the castle that it is today.

(:-} History
In the 1409, the castle was given, along with surrounding estates and 40 villages, to a local by the name of Voik (or Vajk) who was made a nobleman for his bravery at the service of Sigismund of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Hungary at that time. Some claim that it was already a noble family, and it was the father of Voik, Sorb (or Serb) who received these honors. The family might have also taken the name Huniad from this estate. The name Corvin or Corvinus, from the latin "corvus" meaning raven, was taken by Matthias Huniad from an estate owned by the family, named "Raven's Rock".

The son of Voik, the great ruler of Transylvania and later governor of Hungary (1446-1456), John Huniad (Johannes Hunyad, Janos Hunyadi, Ioan de Huniad), from whom the castle and the town take their name, transformed the small citadel into a beautiful Gothic residence. During John Huniad’s time, the castle underwent two distinct construction phases. During the first phase, the castle was extended using the latest elements of military technique consisting of walls with crenellations, 4 round towers and 3 square ones. The gateway and bridge were moved to a new location as well. During the second phase, after Huniad became governor of Hungary, the court chapel and the gothic wing were built and the castle became a residence. This was just one of his possessions and it is said that he preferred the castle palace of Timisoara (Hu: Temesvar, Ge: Temeschwar, Temeschburg), which bears his name as well.

One of John Huniad’s sons was the great Renaissance king of Hungary, Matthias Huniad Corvinus (1458-1490) also known as “the Just” for his competence, being one of the greatest of Hungarian kings, also king of Bohemia and holding court at Vienna for the last years of his reign. Together with his mother, Elisabeth Szilagy (Erzsebet Szilagyi), they continued the extension of the Huniad castle in the Gothic and Renaissance style.

Afther the Huniads, since the early 1500s, the castle was owned by other 22 noble personalities. The most notable was the prince Gabriel Bethlen von Iktar (Bethlen Gabor, 1613-1629) in the 1600s, Transylvania experiencing a period of enlightenment throughout his reign. During this period the castle was modified once again, receiving late Renaissance and Baroque elements. The Bethlen and the Administrative wings were built over older defensive parts of the castle. The large round tower enclosing the old gate tower was built at this time as well. The medieval garrison tower became the new gateway and the access bridge was built in its present location. A new fortified enclosure was built in front of the castle, on the other end of the bridge, meant as quarters for the Hussar garrison. Today, this is where the offices and the parking lot are located.

In the 1700s the castle became property of the Austrian Habsburg authorities, which turned it into administrative quarters and storage house of the iron mines. After a series of fires, the last in 1854, which burned down its wooden structure and most of the furniture, the castle was renovated, the Neo-Gothic gallery on the Bethlen wing and the present roof made of ceramic tiles being added, defining the impressive silhouette that can be seen today.

The castle was renovated again between 1956 and 1968, which was done improperly by the Romanian authorities, tearing down some of the interventions from the 1600s and the 1800s, trying to rehabilitate the original appearance on parts of the castle. In 1974 the castle was turned into a museum. Since 1997, the castle is slowly undergoing renovation yet again, but still remains open to the public.

(0X) People
Beside the great governor John Huniad and his son king Matthias, there were a few famous people that resided for periods of time at the court of the Huniad casle, one of them being the court monk Giovanni da Capistrano, known as Saint Capistrano, having been canonized in 1690. He was a Franciscan friar and inquisitor sent by the Pope, which accompanied governor John Huniad in his campaign against the Ottoman Turks in Belgrade, where they scored a decisive victory.

Another famous resident was the ruler of Wallachia, Vladislaus or Vlad Dracul III, aka Vlad the Impaler, the historical character which inspired Bram Stoker to write the famous novel "Dracula". During the reign of Mathias Huniad Corvinus, king of Hungary, Vlad, was exiled 7 years in the castle, as a political prisoner. Matthias was actually sheltering him, from his brother, which betrayed him and allied himself with the Ottoman Turks and from Western European powers who disagreed of his gruesome ways. John, Matthias’ father was an ally of Vlad and helped him gain the throne of Wallachia, and later Matthias will do the same. Vlad might have met his second wife, Ilona Szilagy, cousin of king Matthias, while living here.

There is a legend related to the Huniad castle. On one of the buttresses of the chapel, in the smaller courtyard adjacent to the well, the words of a Turkish prisoner are engraved in stone in Arabic characters. The legend says that 3 Ottoman Turkish prisoners were promised freedom if they would hew out of the bedrock a well, finding water. After toiling for 15 years, they eventually found water, digging the present 30-meter deep well. Their incarcerators however, did not keep their promise and they were put to death. It is said that one of the prisoners left an engraving stating: “you have water, but no soul”. However, the correct translation for the centuries old inscription is: “he who wrote this is Hassan, who lives as slave for the “ghiaours” in the castle near the church” (the term “ghiaours” means “person without soul, or without God”, an old hateful Turkish term for Westerners/Christians).

(!) Access
22 km south of the district capital, Deva (Hu: Deva; Ge: Diemrich, Schlossberg)

Roadway: car, daily buses from Deva and Simeria;
Paved district/secondary road 68B, off DN 7 (national road)/E68 (European route) at Santuhalm (Hu: Szantohalma)(14km);
Paved local road off DN 66/E79 at Calan (Hu: Pusztakalan; Ge: Kalan)(12 km);
Paved local road from Hatzeg (Hu: Hatszeg; Ge: Wallenthal)(20km)

Railway: daily trains from Deva and Simeria; off the main southern Transylvanian/international corridor at rail hub town of Simeria (Hu: Piski)

(!) Open
Summer: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 5pm; Monday Closed
Off-season/Wintertime: may close 1 or 2 hours early

(!) Fees
Admission
[.o] Photographic equipment and guide are extra

(!) Tours
Available on the spot in English, Hungarian, German, French; extra charge

(!) Nearby attractions [.o]
Hunedoara (2 medieval churches)
Deva (22km, 2 castles, monastery)
Simeria (20km, old mansion with botanical gardens)
Strei (12km, medieval church)
Calan (12km, medieval church, roman baths/thermae, spa resort)
Santamarie Orlea (25km, medieval church, castle)
Densus (32km, roman/medieval church)
Rau de Mori (35km, castle ruins, 2 medieval churches)
Sarmizegetusa (40km, remains of roman city)
Gurasada (52km, medieval church)
Orastie (42km, historic town, medieval church fortress, monastery)
Geoagiu (55km, 2 medieval churches, roman fort remains, roman baths/thermae, spa resort)
Salasu de Sus (40km, medieval church, 2 castle ruins)

Mountains: Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians, 40km, Retezat and Parang ranges, Retezat National Park, glacial lakes, caves, gorges), Western Carpathians (Apuseni Mountains, 30km, Padis Karstic area, gorges, caves, rock formations)

(!) Accomodation
Hotel Rusca (city center, 3star, Adress 10 Bulevardul Dacia, Hunedoara, Hunedoara, Phone (+40) 254-717-575, 254-749-254, Fax 254-712-002, Email mail@hotelrusca.com, Website http://www.hotelrusca.ro/),

Other hotels, motels and private accommodations can be found in the area.

(!) Contact
1-3 Curtea Castelului Street, Hunedoara, Hunedoara, Postal Code 331141, Phone (+40) 254-711-423, Fax 254-711-423, Email(?) cahd@toptech.ro