Trenciansky Hrad (Castle Trencin)

On a cloudy fall day in September 2001, my friend Ivan and I decided to take a day trip into central Slovakia. At first, Ivan and I thought of going to the old mining town of Banska Bystrica, but it was already mid-morning, and the train ride would have taken about 6 hours, and we would not have gotten back to Borovce until way late at night. Scratch Plan A.

Ivan then suggested a trip to Trencin (tren-cheen), a city about an hour from Piestany by train and home to one of the most beautiful and third largest castles in Slovakia. Located on the Vah River near the Czech Republic, Trencin has been an important part of Slovakian history since prehistoric times. So, we took the bus from Borovce to Piestany and at the train station, took the train for the short run to Trencin. Along the way, Ivan pointed out several other sites that could be seen from the train including Nove Mesto (New City) and the castle ruins at Zilina.

After arriving in Trencin, Ivan and I walked through a park near the station into downtown Trencin. First, Ivan and I visited Trenciansky Hrad for over an hour along with its 15th Century Fortifications. After the castle, Ivan and I went back into the town, which has a small central square complete with a fountain in the shape of a man spitting water at unsuspecting people. Several Gothic and Renaissance buildings still exist in Trencin along with the Neo-Romantic 1911 Synagogue that is still in very good condition considering the Slovakian-Jewish population was almost completely wiped out during World War II.

After spending time in downtown Trencin, Ivan and I headed back to the train station, but we stopped for lunch at this nice little restaurant (I can't remember the name of it) close to the station where we had a hearty Slovak lunch with fried mushrooms, rice, and carrots. Full tummies, we got to the train station in time for our train back to Piestany, but not before passing the statue of Slovakian Patriot Milan R. Stefanik, who is a hero to most Slovaks for taking Czechoslovakia from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to independence in 1918.

Quick Tips:

Trencin, Slovakia is located in the Trencin District of Slovakia and is in some hilly terrain along the Vah River. The Castle itself is on a hilltop overlooking Trencin, and there is not any handicapped access or elevators to and from the castle. One has to climb up several stairs to get to the Castle. So, I would advise anyone who wants to go to Trenciansky Hrad to wear good sturdy shoes and be in good physical condition, or you might as well just see the castle from the main square.

In addition to some of the oldest buildings in Slovakia, Trencin is home to the HC Dukla Trencin Hockey Club which has produced some of the best hockey players in the world including Boston Bruins player Zdeno Chara, who at 6'9" tall, is one of the biggest players in the National Hockey League. Other stars such as the now-retired Ziggy Palffy and others have been part of HC Dukla Trencin and were a dominant part of Slovakia's 2002 World Championship team. If you love hockey, look into checking out the club and seeing a game, if you are there during hockey season.

Not many people speak English in Trencin except for young people and students, so carry a Slovak-English phrase book and try to learn a little of the language before going to Slovakia.

For more information on Trencin, Slovakia, go to www.trencin.sk or read the English-language version of Slovakia: Walking Through Centuries of Cities and Towns.

Best Way To Get Around:

Ivan and I went to Trencin by train, and you can travel there, too, by train via Bratislava or Piestany. It will take about an hour or two to get to Trencin from either destination, and train tickets in Slovakia are pretty cheap.

You can also go to Trencin by car or bus, but the train is the best way to go, and Trencin is small enough for one to get downtown in a short time from the train station. If you take a car to Trencin, just lock it up when you leave to tour the city and park in a legal parking area. Once in Trencin itself, it's best to walk around town to soak in all of the culture and the history that the city has to offer.

After touring Trenciansky Hrad and the Main Square, Ivan and I headed for lunch and the train station to catch our train back to Piestany. We walked through the Nove Namestie, the Ludovit Stur Square, and Ulica Palackeho and stopped for a few minutes to see Trencin's Synagogue.

The Synagogue was built in 1911 by the Fuchs and Niegreisz Architect Firm from blue prints drawn up by Dr. Richard Schreibner of Berlin and is in the neo-Romantic style of architecture. The Synagogue was built on site of an old wooden synagogue and the Jewish School. Along with the neo-Romantic features, the Synagogue also has Oriental and Byzantine influences.

Before World War II and the Slovak Puppet Government occupation of Trencin, the city's Jewish population numbered about 1,800 people, who lived in a relatively peaceful existence for hundreds of years. The new Synagogue was a Neological Synagogue and services and other events were held here for the Neologue Jewish population from 1911-1939.

After Tiso took over power in Slovakia in 1939, Jewish life in Slovakia and Trencin got steadily worse and the most active persecutions began in 1940. In 1942, most of the Slovak population was put in ghettos and deported to Auschwitz, where many of the Jewish population was gassed to death.

During the Slovak and German Fascists' occupations, the Synagogue was desecrated and several Judaic articles were stolen. Most of the Synagogue laid in ruin and disrepair until 1974, when a 10-year-long restoration began to bring the Trencin Synagogue back to its early 20th-century Glory. Today the Trencin Synagogue, although a smaller Jewish population in the city, is available for worship along with tours and is used for exhibits.

I only saw the outside of the synagogue for a short period of time, and I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it, which is a shame for me being such a shutterbug. Someday, I will have to return to Trencin to see the Synagogue up close and tour it. Unlike Vrbove and several other Slovak cities and towns' synagogues which lie in ruin from years of neglect and wartime atrocities, Trencin's Synagogue is beautifully restored and the heart of Trencin's tiny Jewish community.

The Trencin Synagogue is open for tours to the public daily except for Fridays and Saturdays which is the Shabat or Jewish Sabbath. It is worth a short period of your time when you visit Trencin to see one of the only synagogue in good condition in the area.

After Ivan and I got off the train near Namestie SNP (Slovak National Uprising Square), we walked through the square and park towards Trenciansky Hrad (tren-chian-ski hrod), the impressive hilltop castle located in the southern part of Trencin. Trenciansky Hrad is one of the oldest castles and third largest castle in Slovakia.

Trencin's beginnings date from the 11th Century at the end of the Great Moravian Period in Slovakian History. The castle was originally the King's Guard Castle, and its tower was also built during this time. From 1302-1321, powerful magnate and enemy of King Charles, Matus Cak (ma-toosh chak) occupied Trenciansky Hrad and put the castle through an extensive reconstruction that gives the castle its present-day appearance.

In the 14th Century, Hradciansky Trencin gained some power in Slovakia from King Sigismund of Luxembourg, who promoted the town of Trencin to a Free Royal Town and Trencin was exempt from paying taxes and other tolls. It was also during this time that Trenciansky Hrad had its Representative Palace added that was named after Sigismund's second wife Barbora Celska. Along with the Palace, a gatehouse along with fortifications were added to complete the castle's defenses.

From the end of the 15th and early 16th century, more fortifications were added to the town of Trencin and the Hrad in preparation for the possible Turkish invasion. The castle was owned by the Zapolya Family. Zapolya rebelled against the Habsburg Empire at this time, and Trenciansky Hrad was captured in 1528 by imperial troops.

After 1600, Trenciansky Hrad came under the ownership of the Illeszhazy family, and a threat by the Ottoman Turkish Army fell short during their ownership. In 1708, another uprising against the Habsburgs, the Kuruc Uprising began, and The Battle of Trencin occured shortly afterwards in the outskirts of town with a heavy loss of life. More lives were lost in 1710 when the Plague hit Trencin killing about 1,600 residents.

More bad things happened to Trencin and the Hrad in 1790 when a fire broke out in Trenciansky Hrad and burned out most of the castle and it laid in ruin for over 150 years. During the 19th century, Trencin lost its rank as a free royal town and became "a town with municipal government" and became under control of the Chief of Trencin County.

The early 20th century and end of World War I and the Hapsburg Empire in 1918 brought independence to the new Czechoslovakia and Trencin once again became the seat of Trencin County and enjoyed a prosperous time until the beginning of World War II in 1939 and occupation by the Slovak Puppet Government under Josef Tiso.

In 1955, a large-scale restoration of Trenciansky Hrad and the town's historic center began, and it still goes on up until today. Today, Trenciansky Hrad is a National Cultural Monument and has thousands of tourists every year.

More information about Trenciansky Hrad will be continued on in the next entry, Trenciansky Hrad II.

As mentioned in my previous journal on Trenciansky Hrad, this magnificent hilltop castle is now a Slovakian National Cultural Monument and still is going under an extensive restoration that has dated from 1955.

Ivan and I visited Trenciansky Hrad in September 2001 on a day trip from his home in Borovce. After getting off the train at Namestie SNP, we walked through the park near the station to the castle. After hiking up a steep hill, we arrived at Trenciansky Hrad. One of the guard towers is now a ticket station where you need to purchase your admissions ticket to tour the castle and grounds. It's not much compared to the US Dollar. Ivan and I were told to wait for our guide since the castle is only available for tours with a guide.

About 5 minutes later, a lovely young woman showed up and introduced us as our guide, and we followed her into the castle. The guide only spoke Slovak, which I have a little understanding of, so Ivan, whose English is limited, too, would translate the important parts of the tour to me. Ivan and I toured the Castle, which is a national museum, too, with our very informative guide, and when Ivan was asking the guide many questions about the castle and its history, I would wander a little bit on my own to look at the many exhibits the castle had to offer. Most of the furniture and paintings were taken away from Trencin during the restoration, and what you see in the castle today is displayed on several glass lighted shelves where one can see the splendor of Slovakian and Hungarian royalty.

Our tour of Hradciansky Hrad ended with a trip outside on one of the castle balconies. Being on a hilltop, Trenciansky Hrad overlooks the city of Trencin and the nearby Mala Karpaty Mountains (Little Carpathians). Ivan and I were greeted with one of the most beautiful views, albeit a little foggy, of Trencin and the castle fortifications, which date from the 14th and 15th Centuries.

This is where the tour of Trenciansky Hrad finally ended, and we said dakujem (thank you) to our guide and made our merry way out of the castle and down the hill to downtown Trencin for more touring and lunch before catching the train back to Piestany.

As mentioned before, Trenciansky Hrad is located on a steep hill. So if you are not in good physical condition, I would pass on taking a tour of the castle, but the view from the town is just as nice. Public transportation and private cars are not allowed on the castle grounds, and you will have to park or get off the bus at the bottom of the hill leading to the castle. Make sure you wear good shoes especially when it's rainy that day so you don't slip on the paths around the castle.

If you visit Slovakia, I highly recommend this trip to Trencin and its Castle!

Trencin, Slovakia is one of the oldest cities in Slovakia, if not Europe, too. Physical evidence of Trencin dates from c. 38,000 B.C., but the first written history of Trencin doesn't appear in books until the late 12th century. On one of the Castle rocks, there is a Roman inscription from 179 A.D. dating from wars between the Roman Empire and the Germanic Quadi tribe and shows one that the Romans settled as far as Slovakia during this time. It was known by the Greek name of Leukaristos and has been known by several other names during centuries of foreign rule. Under Austrian and German rule, Trencin was known as Trentschin, and the Hungarians called Trencin Trencsen.

After the 12th century, Trencin became the administrative center of Trencin County, and Trenciansky Hrad (The Castle) was built during this time. From 1302-1321, Trencin was under the rule of Matus Csak, a powerful nobleman, who defied King Charles' rule with his large court and own foreign policy.

During the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the 16th Century, Trencin was a center of the Counter-Reformation and several Catholic sects settled here and founded churches here. In the early 18th Century, Trencin was decimated by war, fire, and the Black Plague and went under a huge restoration and reconstruction. Most of the buildings in Trencin today date from this time.

Trencin flourished during the 19th century when the railroad was built through the city to take people to Bratislava and points beyond. The Industrial Revolution brought textile, food, and machine industries to Trencin and became a center of industry and culture.

In 1939, Trencin became part of the Slovak Puppet Government under the control of Monsignor Josef Tiso, and was the capital of Trencin County. The Puppet Government ran Trencin until August 1944, when the Slovak National Uprising began. After the Uprising was squashed by the Nazis in October, Trencin fell under German occupation, and the Gestapo and SD established a prison camp and headquarters here.

Trencin was liberated by Soviet and Romanian troops on 10 April 1945, about a month before World War II ended, and thus began over 40 years of Communist rule in Trencin and Slovakia, but years of restoration by the people of Trencin kept the city in its original shape. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution hit Czechoslovakia and freed the country from Communist rule. In 1990, Trencin became the County seat for the Trencin Region and District, and in 1993, the Velvet Divorce that split Czechoslovakia into two separate nations brought Trencin to Slovakia.