Ricsóváralja (Hričovské Podhradie) is a village in the Zsolna (Žilina) district of Zsolna (Žilina) county, in Slovakia, it is famous for its castle called Hricsó (Hričov) which was built in the Kingdom of Hungary by Master Tolus, the son of Farkas between 1254 and 1265. You can find it on My Google Maps here: https://shorturl.at/2UySk
It is a small hill fort. From the 1280s it belonged to the Balassa family, then to the Podmaniczky family, and after 1526 it was also a robber knight’s castle and a mint for counterfeit money. Later it belonged to the Thurzós, then to the Erdődys, who abandoned it in the 1670s and since then it has been in ruins.
The village was first mentioned in 1208 as “Ryzoi”. In the Middle Ages, it had several owners. At the beginning of the 13th century it belonged to the Bishopric of Nyitra, at the end of the century to the Bitter and Csák families, and later to the Podmaniczky family. In 1265, it was first mentioned as ‘Hricou’ in the charter of King Béla IV, who granted the castle of Hricsó to Miklós, a descendant of the Beych clan.
In 1271, it was called ‘Hrychov’. In 1282 it consisted of two parts, Lower and Upper Hricsó. In 1392 it was written as ‘Hrichov’, and in 1469 as ‘Waralya’. In the middle of the 16th century, it was ruled by the Podmaniczky brothers, then by the Thurzós.
In 1598 there were 7 households in the settlement, then it is mentioned as ‘Podhradie’. In the 17th century, the whole of the former manor of Ricsó became part of the manor of Nagybiccse. In 1784 there were 29 households with 40 families and 192 inhabitants, according to Vályi András, they were Slovaks.
Read about its legend, told by Felvidéki Mesemondó (the “Story-Teller of the Highland”):
“A forgotten castle on the Vág River, a quarter of an hour from Zsolna. According to the history books, the castle was built during the reign of Béla IV, but the construction was not considered exciting by the older generation, so the history of the castle was turned into a mysterious legend by imagination and rumors.
In the 16th century, the feared knight Lahar made his home here with his beautiful wife and four sons. As far as the eye could see, everything belonged to Lahar. And where the eye couldn’t see, it was owned by the Thurzós.
Then one day, one of Lahar’s sons died… And then the other. Then the third. Finally, he lost all four. The robber knight’s hard heart was broken to pieces… He became a shadow of his former self and soon went after his sons. His beautiful widow was left alone in the castle. As the years passed, her grief never faded. Though there were plenty of new suitors, they all bounced off the castle walls.
The lord of the neighboring dominion, the bishop of Nyitra, Thurzó Ferencz, also lost his wife at that time. He did not mourn for long and went to Lahar’s widow to make the best of a bad situation… It was not love that drove him, he only wanted Lahar’s considerable property. He had made a fool of the aging widow. He played with her… The woman liked the courtship, she liked the neighboring landowner, but she still refused Thurzó’s offer of marriage. “I am too old to be your wife, but I see my sons in you, Ferencz!” and she adopted her suitor as her son.
Thurzó was quite excited. The woman was old, there was nothing to worry about, just wait until she died and everything would be his. Everything!
A year passed, and then another… Thurzó’s pockets began to fill with the fact that the woman was not going to die willingly. One night he sent his henchmen to her room and locked her in the castle’s dark cellar dungeon.
In this villainous way, the former Lahar domain became the property of Thurzó. Much water flowed down the Vág, and the desperate widow cursed the thief day and night in her grief. The curse took effect. In the castle, ghosts haunted the servants, ghouls frightened the guards, and the new lord of the castle awoke every night drenched in sweat to the sound of screams from the cellar.
One day a guest pounded on the castle gate. A monk was looking for the bishop. With a thunderous voice, he read his sins on his head and called on Thurzó to repent. Instead of repenting, the evil lord threw the monk out. The priest remained outside the castle, recounting Thurzó’s sins day after day. The lord was helpless and locked the monk in one of the castle’s towers to starve to death.
The lock on the monk’s cell had barely clicked when a rock rose from the ground in front of the castle. Its menacing shape resembled that of the monk. Thurzó immediately gave the order to smash the rock to pieces. But it was broken in vain, and the next morning it was back at the gate, unharmed.
That was enough for the evil lord of the castle. He ran from the keep. As soon as he stepped out of the gate, the walls collapsed like a house of cards.
Not much remains of the castle of Hricsó. The scream no longer breaks the silence, and the ghosts have long since gone. Only its gate has been faithfully guarded for centuries by the stone monk… If you’re in Zsolna (Žilina) and feel like it, take a detour and visit it.”
The preservation of the castle
Presently, local enthusiasts are trying to save the ruins from destruction. They have traditional Medieval Days, the last such event was attended by 28 students and 3 teachers from the Elementary School of Dolný Hričov. During the special history lesson, they listened to a presentation about life in castles.
Then, they moved to the castle where they were divided into four groups. Pupils removed invasive vegetation, cleaned the campfire and the area, carried over 300 kg of sand into the castle, and applied a lot of stone. Let us appreciate their work. Source: Jozef Mihálik
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You can find many pictures of Hricsó here:
