The gothic castle Vinné was built high above the lake Vinné on a volcanic hill (325 m above the sea level). You can get there from various starting points.
We started in the village with (surprisingly 🙂) same name and took the blue sign in the direction of the castle.
It took us less than an hour to walk up through the forest to top of the hill. It would have been faster if we wouldn’t have taken so many photos on the way.
We came across a very rare Blue or Alpine Longhorn beetle that is a protected species in Germany, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. I have never seen such a beetle. It had a stunning color!
I have visited this castle almost 20 years ago (time flies) and it was great to visit it again. It looks completely different to what I was expecting.
It used to be just rocks randomly placed around the hill and many thick bushes. Today, there is a castle standing proudly on the hill!
LET'S CHECK IT OUT!
Last time I came here with my school class. It was included in our weekend trip at the end of the school year. I remember it was so hot when we walked up the hill. It was like that road didn’t have an end. We walked and walked and walked, and it was horrible.
This time, we went there with my husband, my brother and two of my cousins. Having my bad memories from my teenager years I was expecting a never-ending path and a lot of sweating.
Well, I was wrong. Yes, it was hot but the hike was quite easy and much quicker than I remembered. I think I was simply too lazy and ‘cool’ (like most of teenagers) when I was there for the first time.
The castle was built in the second part of the 13th century to protect the trade route called Magna Via to Poland. There were several castles in this area with the same function, such as Brekov or Jasenov (I wrote about these two some time ago).
According to the first document mentioning the castle, it included an old gate, a palace, a tower, the chapel of St. Margita and the house of Vavrinec, which stood outside of the structure but in the immediate vicinity of the castle.
It has a long and turbulent history, and there were many won and lost battles happening in this place. It was damaged in the 15th century, reconstructed and damaged again in the 16th century and abandoned by its owners, the family of Sztáray, in the 17th century. In the 18th century it was decided to destroy the castle and it was left in ruins up until a few years ago. The ruins of the castle belong to the National Cultural Monuments of Slovakia.
Nowadays, there is an extensive reconstruction of the castle (since 2014) which is performed in the same way it was constructed back then – no electronic tools, all done manually by hand.
There is a blacksmith preparing the metal parts, wooden wheel to lift heavy pieces and thousands of stones ready to become a stone wall.
The workers are dressed in authentic medieval clothes. There are almost 50 of them! The exterior as well as the main tower have been already partly reconstructed but there is still too much work and it will take several years to complete this reconstruction.
This is the wooden wheel to lift heavy pieces needed for reconstruction. Someone goes inside of the wheel and start walking, the wheel moves and helps to lift the pieces up (there is a mechanism attached to the wheel).
I would have never expected such progress and I was proud of people who started this project and those who did the great job! When I come in 20 years again there might be a 5 star hotel inside of the castle, who knows.
There are reconstructed windows and doors openings, a cellar, and fireplaces. They have also placed the roof on the palace and the work is now progressing on the triangular tower.
(interior of the castle)
During the reconstruction some rings, almost 2000 coins in a clay container and richly decorated tiles were found here. Furthermore, they discovered a vineyard which is about 200 years old and may belong to the variety of Neuburg which is very rare in Slovakia.
(stones waiting to be placed)
(this is one of finished walls)
(view from the tower)
(Part of the wall - look how thick it is!)
(this is how they reconstruct the door openings)
(last but not least - view of the Širava lake)
On the way back we had a great view of the castle with the Slovak flag!
And our trip ends where it started 🙂
I hope that you have enjoyed our trip.
Thank you for joining me.
Cheers!
Martina
Wonderful pictures with a nice narration...i love the pictures... Especially view of the Sirava lake...Have a great day...
Thank you for stopping by! Have a nice day too!
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a wonderful trekking and the place you reach afterwards ... I want to include it on my travel list. I also congratulate you for the great photos
Thank you for your kind words!
Martina, what a fun tour and a beautiful location. So cool that there are so many people building it authentically. Wanted to let you know that I am moving very soon (reason I am not on HIVE as much) selling a home and packing it up takes my time and attention.
Oh Sara, I am so ashamed that the package is still with me! I promise I will send it today! I've been so tired after work that I don't feel like going to the post office but I have to finally do it before you move to another place :)
I hope that the move is not going to be too painful! :)
Thanks Martina. It hasn't been too bad at all. I have been packing a little every day.
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Thank you, Pauline!
Hi @Haveyoubeenhere! The photos of that castle ruins are marvelous and perfectly taken as well. I wonder how to live in the old days with royalties, King and Queens. It reminds me of how life was so easy before "Internet" and smartphones came to our world.
Well, it might look easy to us but I am sure that they had different problems too - no electricity, clean water, flushing toilets, etc :) I'm not sure if I would like to deal with it these days. But you are right, their life quality was better in my opinion. They spent more time outside and had real conversations :)
Thank you for stopping by!
Další zajímavé místo, o kterém jsem před tím vůbec nevěděl :) A ten modrý brouček, nádhera!
Nas region vela Cechov nenavstevuje, takze nie som prekvapena, ze si o nom nevedel :) Ked sa ti niekedy podari, tak sa vyber na vychod Slovenska. Bude sa ti tam pacit :)
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Wonderful place!!!!😍
Wow thank you for sharing and the beetle is so pretty!!
Nice seeing new things like this, it's like a tour.
Hey M! How are you doing @delishtreats? I need to catch up on your posts! This castle Vinné is so amazing and the walk up to it is really pulling my heartstrings with its natural beauty. What a great job those guys have restoring it like that. A rather satisfying project.
Stay strong, determined and awesome as always xxx