The spirit of the beginning of the 12th the century can be seen in a remarkable place in the north-east of Slovakia in Spišský Hrad. The original castle, which is now regarded as one of the largest in Europe, has been defensive in nature. The area of this historic monument is approximately 4 hectares. These places are also linked with the name of a famous gusita Ian Sparks – there was his garrison here at the same time. The Zapolskie influenced greatly the appearance of the castle. Their tenure has been rebuilt and expanded. There appeared the Knight's Hall and the Church of St. Elizabeth. At the time of the Renaissance Spišský castle was connected with the names of Chaki and Turzo. In 1780 the dramatic fire destroyed most of its buildings. The Chaki family didn’t rebuild their possession, and gradually the castle became shabby
Restoration work began to hold here only in 1970ies. Most of the fortress, severely injured in a fire of 1780, has been restored. Tourists will be pleased to see museum of arms and armour inside the castle.
The year of 1993 became meaningful for Spišský Hrad - UNESCO has taken this historic monument under its protection. Being on a tour in Spišský Castle the tourist will not see the guides or keepers there. All the duties here are distributed among knights, astrologers, princesses and wizards. The Knight's spirit prevails everywhere here: in knight attributes, children dressed in the real knight squads and studying the castle with great interest. On the territory of the lower fortress a specially equipped playground is located, where you can sing songs and entertain under the care of these knights. If you are lucky, you can watch exciting and lush costume knight tournaments.
What the time spared consists of four parts now. The upper castle which is located at the top of the rocks is considered to be the main part. From here you will see all the great defensive installations. Spišský Castle has a unique layout, and bypassing enfilade corridors in the northern part of the castle, a visitor gets into the oldest part - Romanesque palace of the mid 13th century. At the Western Wall the third component is - the late Gothic palace complex affected by the restoration of the Renaissance times. Less important buildings can be seen in the eastern part. In the territory of the castle there are two courtyards: the first is the internal one. It is executed in the Romanesque style and it was built first. The second courtyard had already been made with the input of a gate tower and it was carrying its service since the 14 century. There is a large western courtyard at the hill of the castle. In the mid 15th century the place was given up to the defensive camp.
