Hunyad Castle
| Corvin Castle | |
|---|---|
| Castelul Corvinilor (Romanian) Vajdahunyadi vár (Hungarian) |
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| Hunedoara in Romania | |
The castle and its moat
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Plan of the castle
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| Coordinates | 45°44′57″N 22°53′18″E / 45.74917°N 22.88833°ECoordinates: 45°44′57″N 22°53′18″E / 45.74917°N 22.88833°E |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Owner |
Ministry of Culture Notable owners
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| Open to the public |
Daily, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Condition | Renovated |
| Website | Official website |
| Site history | |
| Built | 14th century (royal castra) 1440–46 (first phase) 1458–80 (second phase) 17th century (third phase) 19th century (fourth phase) |
Corvin Castle, also known as Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle (Romanian: Castelul Huniazilor or Castelul Corvinilor; Hungarian: Vajdahunyadi vár), is a Gothic-Renaissance castle in Hunedoara, Romania. It is one of the largest castles in Europe and figures in a top of seven wonders of Romania.
Corvin Castle was laid out in 1446, when construction began at the orders of John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János, Romanian: Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara) who wanted to transform the former keep built by Charles I of Hungary. The castle was originally given to John Hunyadi's father, Voyk (Vajk), by Sigismund, king of Hungary, as severance in 1409. It was also in 1446 when John Hunyadi was elected as the regent-governor of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Diet.
Built in a Renaissance-Gothic style and constructed over the site of an older fortification on a rock above the small Zlaști River, the castle is a large and imposing structure with tall towers, bastions, an inner courtyard, diversely coloured roofs, and myriads of windows and balconies adorned with stone carvings. The castle also features a double wall for enhanced fortification and is flanked by both rectangular and circular towers, an architectural innovation for the period's Transylvanian architecture. Some of the towers (the Capistrano Tower, the Deserted Tower and the Drummers' Tower) were used as prisons. The Buzdugan Tower (a type of mace after which it was named) was solely built for defensive purposes and it had its exterior decorated with geometric motifs. The rectangular shaped towers have large openings to accommodate larger weapons.
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Wikipedia