Muráň Castle
Muráň, Slovakia
No longer standing
Demolished or destroyed.
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Muráň Castle is a medieval ruin perched at 935 meters above the village of Muráň in Slovakia's Muránska planina National Park, making it the third highest castle in the country. Built in the 13th century on a cliff overlooking a regional trade route, it was first documented in 1271 when King Stephen V of Hungary ceded it to Gunig comes. The castle gained notoriety under the robber baron Mátyás Basó, who transformed it into a bandit stronghold until a royal siege captured it in 1548 and saw Basó executed—an event immortalized in one of Slovakia's oldest songs by Martin Bošňák. Later, the independent noblewoman Mária Széchy, known as "The Venus of Murány," orchestrated her husband Ferenc Wesselényi's entry into the castle through trickery in 1666, then heroically defended it against imperial forces after his failed coup attempt, surrendering to Charles of Lorraine in 1670. Following the Treaty of Szatmár, the castle's strategic importance waned; fires in 1702 and 1760 hastened its decline until it became a ruin.
- Built
- Type
- castle, castle ruin
- Place
- Muráň, Slovakia
This building on
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Location