Márkusfalva (until 1899 Márkus-Csépánfalu, in Slovak Markušovce, in German Marksdorf) is a village in Igló district of Kassa county, Slovakia. It was formed by the merger of Márkusfalva and Csépánfalu (Cseszánfalva). The village dates back to the beginning of the 12th century as a border guard village in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Location: https://tinyurl.com/nr3bfd7z
It is situated on the banks of the Hernád River, 6 km east of the town of Igló (Spisská Nová Ves). It was mentioned as an ancient estate of the Mariássy family in 1280. On the gentle hillside above the village, near the parish church, rise the walls of the castle of the noble Máriássy family.
From a military point of view, the fortification is in a very unfavorable position, as it stands on a small hill that can be easily attacked. According to research, the 13th-century part of the fortress is the western side, where a rectangular old tower and a smaller palace with a rampart surround the fortress.
Around 1150, German settlers arrived in the largely uninhabited areas of historic Northern Hungary at the call of King Géza II of Árpád’s dynasty. 1241-1242: During the Mongol invasion, which devastated the country, the attacking armies of horsemen destroyed the settlements in the region of Szepesség. After 1242, German settlers invited by King Béla IV started to demolish the ruins and build new houses in the destroyed settlement.
In 1279, the land called “Csetenye” was given by the Szepes County’s Comes Batiz (ancestor of the Máriássy noble family) to the Saxon Gotthard of Mátéfalvi on the condition that he would establish a village there and cultivate the land by clearing the forest. According to their agreement, the Saxon “hospes” would have to pay for his land only after 16 years. Comes Batiz also ceded the landlord’s rights to pasture and fishing to the new owner.
In 1284, Márkus’ son Miklós, the ancestor of the Máriássy family, one of the few baronial families among the Saxon settlers, had a castle built on the territory of the village of Márkusfalva, which he had founded, with royal permission. The small fortress, which stood in a militarily disadvantaged location, is one of the few castles to have been owned by a single family throughout its history. During the 14th and 15th centuries, at an uncertain date, the castle of Márkusfalva was fortified with external towers.
The nobleman Máriássy Pál added a citadel to the top of the hill after regaining it from the town of Lőcse in the second half of the 14th century. The entrance to the castle was protected by two round towers, and a large Renaissance wing with a huge great hall was built in the courtyard. Despite its size, the castle was not a major military site, but remained a private castle, surrendering to the armies that passed by.
In April 1516, the Captain of Szepesvár, a nearby estate of the powerful Szapolyai noble family, Máriássy István died. All of István’s property was inherited by his son Ferenc. King Louis II and a large part of his army were killed in the defeat of Mohács on 29 August 1526. Soon afterward, the common nobility elected the Transylvanian Viceroy Szapolyai János as King of Hungary at the assembly in Tokaj, while a smaller group of the nobility wanted to see the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Habsburg on the throne. The internal war between the supporters of the two rulers began, and the country was plunged into ruin.
To find as many supporters as possible, King János made generous donations to his supporters. This is how the manor of Késmárk and the estate of Debrecen came into the hands of Jeromos Laszky, a Polish nobleman who visited the Sultan’s court in Istanbul several times as the Hungarian king’s envoy. The nobleman also held, albeit briefly, the offices of Count of Szepes and Voivode of Transylvania. As Baron Máriássy Ferenc was also a member of King Szapolyai János’ camp at the same time, he came into conflict with the Saxon population and the Saxon burghers of Lőcse who sided with Ferdinand Habsburg.
In the middle of 1527, King Ferdinand Habsburg’s mercenary army launched a campaign against the lands ruled by King János. In the course of this, the troops of General Nicolaus Salm defeated the forces of King János at the Battle of Tokaj on 17 September, and the ruler himself was forced to flee to Transylvania. In the spring of 1528, the troops of King Szapolyai János, who had set out to recapture the city of Kassa, were again defeated at Abaújszina by the pro-Hapsburg mercenary commander Katzianer. King János himself, with his small retinue, fled to Poland.
After a two-week siege, General Katzianer captured the family stronghold of the Szapolyai, Szepesvár, while his fellow general Pekry Lajos of Petrovina and his horsemen took the fortresses of Likava and Liptóújvár. At the same time, they also captured the castle of Jeromos Laszky, a follower of King János, at Késmárk.
In November 1528, the armed citizens of Lőcse, emboldened by their military successes, attacked and occupied the castle of Márkusfalva in a sudden attack, from where the Máriássy family was forced to flee in a headlong flight. The triumphant Saxons gathered up everything of value and set fire to the small castle. Afterward, the pro-Habsburg mercenary general Katzianer pledged the ownerless castle lordship.
Máriássy Ferenc, a pro-King János man, died in 1534, leaving two sons, Antal and Pál. Since their daughter Anna was married to the nobleman Bornemissza Benedek, an influential supporter of King Ferdinand Habsburg, the Máriássy family felt powerful enough to reclaim their confiscated estates. At the end of a protracted legal battle in 1538, the castle manor of Márkusfalva was once again returned to the Máriássy family. The town of Lőcse even had to pay compensation of 1600 gold pieces. According to other sources, the trial ended in 1569 and the compensation was 2,000 gold pieces.
The nobleman Máriássy Pál had the fortress restored and even had a new Renaissance-style palace built in it. After the death of Máriássy Pál in 1587, the family was succeeded by sons named Ferenc, Zsigmond, Pál and András. In 1605, during the uprising started by the Transylvanian nobleman Bocskai István, the Máriássy family of Márkusfalva supported Rudolf Habsburg, Emperor and King. After 1607 the castle estate was owned by Ferenc, son of Máriássy András.
In 1643, Máriássy Ferenc, near the fortress, which had become uninhabitable, built a Renaissance manor house on the flat land in front of the Hernád River. The manor house was also built on the model of the old castle, also with four corner towers. After Baron Máriássy Ferenc’s death, his descendants moved to the manor house, and the castle was not much cared for afterward.
Between 1703 and 1711 the small fortress did not play any military role in the Kuruc War of Independence, while its owner, Máriássy Ádám, fought against the Habsburg Emperor and King in the rank of colonel (brigadier). After the fall of the War of Independence, it is unknown for what reason, but unlike other Hungarian fortifications, the medieval castle of Márkusfalva was not destroyed.
The original Renaissance fortress-like form with circular towers at the corners was altered in 1773 by the construction of a large Rococo reconstruction. Shortly afterward, a summer residence was built in the castle’s back garden to celebrate the imminent arrival of Emperor Joseph II.
The manor house was once fortified, and today only a few bastions on the corner towers show its fortifications.
After the restoration of the castle, an exhibition of historical furniture was added to the collections from several period buildings in Eastern Slovakia. In the summer residence, the Museum of Igló created an exhibition space for keyboard instruments. The summer residence, decorated with frescoes, is also a concert hall.
During a summer storm on 19 June 1773, a lightning strike caused a fire in the neglected castle building, which burnt the roof to the ground. It is known from contemporary documents (1789) that the Máriássy family renovated the Great Hall of the Knights, while other parts remained in ruins. In the mid-19th century, the restoration of other rooms continued. The castle was then used as an economic center, as a residence for the steward, and later as a warehouse.
In the last decades of the 19th century, it was owned by Máriássy Ödön (imperial and royal chamberlain), then stood uninhabited between the two world wars. After the nationalization, it housed the Museum of Eastern Slovakia, the kindergarten of the village, and a few small apartments. In the early 1980s, a local association made a brief attempt to save the crumbling building, but for nearly 20 years it was uninhabitable again.
The medieval castle was returned to the Máriássy family in 1992. The change in the castle’s condition came after the turn of the millennium. The owner, Máriássy Péter, spared no effort and started restoring the castle, which is still being restored today. According to signs on the site, the Hungarian State is also participating in the work through the Teleki Foundation. At the moment, the interior of the castle is a work area and is not open to the public. However, it is possible to walk around the castle along the outer walls.
In 1910 the village was inhabited by 1670 people, of whom 1192 were Slovak, 241 were Hungarian and 123 were German, with additional Polish and Gypsy minorities. In terms of religion, there were 1,489 Roman Catholics, 114 Israelites, 40 Evangelicals, 21 Greek Catholics, 4 Reformed, and 2 Greek Easterners. In 2011, 3,627 of its 3,288 inhabitants were Slovak.
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Here are a few pictures of the castle and the manor house of Márkusfalva:
