Hrad Sitno

Sitno Castle - a former defensive castle erected at an altitude of approx. 840 m a.s.l. On the eastern slope of Mount Sitno in the Szczawnickie Mountains in Slovakia. It is located in the Ilija commune in the Banska Szczawnica poviat.

The castle was probably created in the second half of the 13th century as one of the royal strongholds system, erected after the Tatar invasions. In the first half of the 16th century, he most likely belonged to the royal mining chamber. However, the first written references about him only come from 1548. When the royal troops captured him and took the robber Melchior Balassy from the knight. After the banks of Balassy, ​​the castle was given to Ján Kružic, the then commander of the royal crew in Krupin, who simultaneously held the castle Čabraď. In 1629, King Ferdinand II handed the "state" to Sitno and Čabraď to Piotr Kohary as a proof of gratitude for his merits in wars with the Turks. Sitno was then the seat of the feudal "state", to which seven villages belonged. Then it belonged to the Koburgs.

The castle guarded access from the south to Bańska Szczawnica and other royal mining cities. Rebuilt and significantly strengthened in 1548-1552, it became an important link in the defense against the Turkish threat. After the outbreak of the anti -Habsburg Uprising of Rakocz in 1703, he was filled with insurgent troops, which in 1711 destroyed him completely while leaving. Today he remains in a state of complete ruin.

The castle is easily available on several tourist routes from nearby towns. He also runs a didactic path Andrej Kmeť from Prenčov to the Sitna top. Almost to the foot of the castle you can get by car.