Doba - Somló Castle - Somlóvár Castle

History
Mount Somló is a huge basalt-pyramid standing independently from other mountains in the county of Veszprém, Devecser region, near Somlyó-Vásárhely, its hight is 435 ms. On it's peak the ruins of a fortess can be seen, with more or less intact walls. In the lower fortress one can distinct the guard-rooms and dwellings of the lord and the kitchen with it's high chimney. On the middle of the court there was a well, nowadays its almost filled up with stones and soil.

The fortress existed as a royal property already in the 15th century. King Sigismund gave it in 1389 to the two sons of palatine Garai Miklós, Miklós and János in return for the property of Ivánkaszentgyörgy in the county of Valkó.

It remained property of the Garai family until 1457, when the palatine Garai László, who appeared in front of the convent of the St. Benedict monastery of Pannonhalma and revealed that his father Miklós, ruled the episcopate of Győr with wordly hand and used it's incomes for himself, and did not keep his promise to pay Győr church everything back. Thus he, to save his father's soul from the vengeance of God, offered the family fortress to the church of Győr.

In 1464 it becomes the property of Anthimi János. In 1495 Bakócz Tamás, bishop of Eger got it from the king and left it as a legacy in 1517 for his nephew Bakócz Péter of Erdőd. From then on the Erdődy family owns the fortress in the 16th century. From 1603 it belongs to Nádasdy Tamás, who on the 6th of January sold it together with the castels of Ugod and Devecser to Megyeri Imre and his whife, Viczai Magdolna for 6000 hungarian forints. Count Liszti János is the proprietor in 1675.

In 1707, Bottyán János general of II. Rákóczi Ferenc, when hearing the the news that Starhemberg, Rabutin and Pálffy are coming, supplied it with food and put a defence in the more or less rebuilt fortress. It had no military significance by then, so after the riot they left it to destruction.
source: www.karpatok.info

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Simontornya Castle

History
The Tower was built in the 13th century by Simon (Son of Salamon) among the swamps of the Sió river. The name Simontornya means Simon's Tower. Nearly all owners of the castle made some alterations throughout the centuries. The Lackfi's built a new gothic wing in the 14th century, altered the old Tower, and added an arcaded loggia to the back-front. After the extinction of the Garai family in 1482, the castle again belonged to Queen Beatrix, wife of Matthias Corvinus. Simontornya Castle from the North side

Mózes Buzlay, marshall of King Ulászló II improved the castle into a renaissance palace with the help of Italian masters and craftsmen from Buda. After Buzlays' death the castle was taken over by the Turks in 1545. This event marked the beginning of a new era with an emphasis on military requirements. During the nearly 150 years of occupation minor alterations and refinements were constantly being made.

Simontornya, the center of a sandjak was recaptured by Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden in 1686. In just two years (1702-1704) major alterations turned the castle into a fortress. During the revolution against the Habsburgs, led by Prince Francis II Rákóczi, Simontornya became the stronghold of the Kuruc rebels in southwest Hungary. The fortress was captured by the Austrian army in 1709 housing troops until 1717. The castle fortress was later donated to the House of Limburg-Stirum, but, after building a new a castle, they turned the old one into a barn. It has been used as a barn by all new owners until 1960, when archeological excavations started.
source: Wikipedia

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