Smolenice Castle
Encyclopedia
Little Carpathians
The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge is situated south of Devín Gate in...
, near the town of Smolenice
Smolenice
Smolenice is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava Region of Slovakia, on the foothills of the Little Carpathians. It is 60 km northeast of Bratislava and 25 km northwest of Trnava...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
History
The Smolenice Castle was built up in the half of 15th century, but it was destroyed during the Rakoci's uprising and Napoleanic wars. In 1777 the count Jan Palffy from PezinokPezinok
Pezinok is a city in southwestern Slovakia. It is roughly northeast of Bratislava and has a population of 21,334 .Pezinok lies near the Little Carpathians and thrives mainly on viticulture and agriculture, as well as on brick making and ceramic production.-History:From the second half of the 10th...
inherited the entire Smolenice but did not reside in the castle due to its poor condition and lack of money for rebuilding it. The castle was only rebuilt up in the 20th century, by order of the count Jozef Palffy. The architect Jozef Hubert projected the new castle by using the Kreuzenstein castle near Vienna as a model, and the works were controlled by the architect Pavol Reiter from Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. During its construction there were masters from Italy, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and 60 workmen from Smolenice and nearby villages. The main building has two wings and a tower, and is made of ferroconcrete.
The castle was damaged in the spring of 1945 during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and in that same year the state became the owner of it. Some reconstructions have been made after 1950, and since June 26, 1953 the castle is property of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Slovak Academy of Sciences
The Slovak Academy of Sciences SAV is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research...
. The castle serves now as a conference centre, and it is only opened to the public in the months of July and August.