Sitno

How to Get There – Sitno

RECOMMENDED

Route 1: We recommend visiting Sitno castle ruins along with the ascent to the top of Sitno mountain.

In the village of Počúvadlo we come to the parking lot at Počúvadliansky lake. From there we continue on foot along the green route next to the cottages through the forest. Climbing the forest is relatively challenging. After about half an hour of climbing, we reach the Tatar meadow (906 m above sea level), where the educational trail also begins. From here, it is only a 25-minute climb to the top of Sitno following the blue sign, which in the final stage is variegated by a large number of stairs. At the top of Sitno there is a lookout tower, transmitter and in season a buffet. From the top of Sitno, we go south next to the transmitter and after a few meters we connect to the asphalt road. After about 15 minutes of descent, we find a sign by the road with the inscription in slovak - HRAD (Castle). Here we turn onto a path through a meadow and at the end of it there is a rock cliff with the ruins of Sitno Castle.

1:15 h +316 m / −148 m parking

Route 2: From the opposite side, from the village of Ilija on an asphalt road (green route). If you do not want to climb to the top of Sitno, but only visit the castle, you can use this route. The route passes through the Vlčia jama crossroads to the castle, which is located below the top of Sitno. It is also suitable for cyclists.

1:30 h +338 m / −42 m parking

Route 3: By car we get quite high by asphalt road near Svätý Anton village. An inconspicuous turn to the right can be found between the villages of Svätý Anton and Prenčov. After about 4 km we come to the parking lot at the sign of Haviarska. From there, walk in about an hour through Vlčia jama to the castle.

1:05 h +229 m / −43 m parking

Nearby castles (as the crow flies):
Štiavnické Bane Bašta - 4.5 km, Svätý Anton - 4.7 km, Nový zámok - 6.1 km, Starý zámok - 6.5 km, Žibritov - 7 km, Glanzenberg - 7.1 km, Bohunický hrádok - 12.3 km, Žakýl - 12.4 km, Bohunice - 12.5 km, Pukanec - 13.3 km

Architecture

On the Sitno hill stood a historic stone castle with fortifications that surrounded the entire top plateau from the castle to the steep inaccessible rocks on the north and southwestern edge. The walls were built on the foundations of the rampart fortification, which also had a cross wall, not used in the Middle Ages. He separated part of the fort on the acropolis and could serve as a second line of defense. The remains of the peripheral masonry and foundations remained from the castle, which suggests that the castle consisted of two parts. On the north side of the upper side probably stood the castle palace, to which in the rock carved staircase led, on the south laid the lower castle, as evidenced by the remnants of its peripheral walls. From the western accessible side stretches the neck ditch behind which are all parts of the barbican are reconstructed and on the right is a carved water tank in the courtyard. The entrance to the castle was on its side, protected from invaders.

The castle is now a ruin merging with the rock on which it is built. Early in 21st century, volunteers began archaeological research and conservation of castle ruins. Today you can see the location of the barbican, the water tank and the entrance to the castle.

Floor plan legend: 1 - entrance courtyard with a cistern, 2 - upper castle with a residential building, 3 - lower castle built of operating buildings

Photo Gallery

2016

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Any copying or use is permitted only with the author's written consent.

Historical Photographs

Visitor Photographs

Sitno – vrchol Sitna 2016 - Poslal: Jozef — vrchol Sitna 2016 - Poslal: Jozef

Sitno – Info tabuľa 2016 - Poslal: Jozef — Info tabuľa 2016 - Poslal: Jozef

Sitno – hrad Sitno 2021 - Ladislav Doložinski — hrad Sitno 2021 - Ladislav Doložinski

Sitno – hrad Sitno 2018 - Poslal: Ľ.Hudák — hrad Sitno 2018 - Poslal: Ľ.Hudák

History – Sitno

Historical and other names: Cytun, Scyten, Sitniansky hrad, Szitnya, Etzelspurg

The top of Sitno, with steep rock walls in the north and southwest, was a convenient place to defend against the enemy in prehistoric times. The massive fortification, which had a transverse rampart separating the cult part of the fort from the acropolis, no longer used in the Middle Ages, dates from this period. In the first half of the 13th century, an extensive fortified fortification was created, surrounding the top part of Sitno up to steep cliffs. In its most vulnerable part, a castle was built, the main task of which was to guard the easiest accesses and at the same time served as the last refuge for the defenders of the fort. In the 16th century, the walls of the barbican standing in front of the castle were completed and strengthened. His task was to protect the entrance to the castle from direct artillery fire after breaking the defense. The bullets then bounced off the sloping massive walls of the building. At the barbican there is a water tank carved into the bedrock.

After the fateful battle of Mohács, at a time when many feudal lords looted and amassed their possessions, Sitno fell into the hands of Menyhárt Balassa. In 1548, King Ferdinand I of Habsburg sent a strong army against Balass, led by General Nikolaus Salm. But the crowd of defenders against the silent army had no chance and the castle garrison began to confuse and negotiate. By the time Salma's main army arrived at the castle, the castle was in royal hands. Balassa was staying in Levice at that time, after the news of the surrender of Sitno he fled to Transylvania. At the time of the Turkish danger, the castle was managed by military captains, until it was granted to Captain Ján Krušič. Ján Krušič gave the fortresses entrusted to him better. Sitno was rebuilt and the Sitnian ditches were filled with water, thus bringing water to the fortress. In 1629 King Ferdinand II. donated Sitnian Castle for services in the fight against the Ottoman Peter Koháry. The Koháry family then owned the castle until its demise. In 1703, the castle was seized by the Kuruk troops of Francis II. Rákóczi, who completely destroyed him at the end of the anti-Habsburg uprisings when he left in 1710. Both the castle and the fortifications became a source of building material for the lookout tower on Sitno and the manor house in Svätý Anton. After the extinction of the Koháry family, it passed into the ownership of the Coburg family with the whole estate. At that time, the center of the Sitnian estate was already the Koháryov manor house in Svätý Anton.

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Legends and Tales

The rumor says

When the fairies still had the threads of the moonlight and the mighty wonders had power on the way to the cross, the working people lined the Sitnian rock with the walls of a comforted castle. In order to make the castle impregnable, the lord of the castle secretly had the virgin walled up in the tower. One knight found out. He regretted the poor man, and at night he silently masonized the stone tomb. He happily freed the poor girl, whose tearful eyes were no longer tearful. They slipped out of the castle, but the guards noticed them. The refugees were caught up on the edge of a rocky abyss. The knight and the virgin escaped them only by jumping into eternity. An unnecessarily large rage, he was furious, he was standing out. The castle without vulnerability remained vulnerable. Particularly sensitive to the fear of the weak, the treachery of the undergrowth and the inability to burn.

Sitno's Knights

Once upon a time, a blacksmith lived near Sitna. He was handy, but he didn't have much work to do because he didn't fight and had nothing to put in his mouth. He had a stream near him, from where he obtained trout and clean, spring water. However, he had nothing to dress for, they were still small, but they were growing slowly. He wanted to sell a blacksmith's shop and live a peaceful life. Until a knight came.
He had strange armor and at first they thought he was a buyer. What can he want from him? People asked each other. The blacksmith went with him somewhere in the woods, no one has seen him since. They came to Sitna, and the blacksmith began to feel remorse. He was afraid that the knight would kill him, and he wanted to escape. The top has opened.
There were many knights, an unimaginable number, and they were all asleep. The only one was up, the blacksmith's guide. The blacksmith had to train many swords, armor, it just rumbled. He was forgotten in the village, and people thought the knight had long ago scanned him. The children have grown up a long time ago, and the woman has found a sweetheart.
In a few years he returned with a good bag. Fortunately, he still had a lot of work to do, because everyone needed to fix something. Where was he? He was among the Knights of Sitnian. So he spoke to people. And supposedly, when the Slovaks are at their worst, they will come and help them. Few people knew that swords and armor of knights are magical ...