GHYMES CASTLE

Gýmeš is a castle ruin on the southern slope of the Tribeč Mountains, approximately 5 km north of the village of Jelenec (Gýmeš). It is one of the family castles of the Forgách family - along with the Galicia Castle. The castle was built in the years 1253-1270 on the site of the old fort.

In the 15th century was carried out extensive construction, they were built new palaces and vast fortification. Work on defense facilities continued in the 16th century, when the entrance to the castle built a large tower trapezoidal ground plan and cylindrical tower. Increased labor, fees and taxes resulted in 1610 in the peasant rebellion of the subjects, which the estate severely suppressed. During the reconstruction of the castle, destroyed by the Turks after the fall of Nové Zámky in autumn 1663, they built a new fortification with cannon bastions on the southern, most endangered side.

Gýmeš was one of the few castles where construction work was still ongoing in the 18th century. The transformation of the Gothic palace into the Forgach family crypt with a chapel dates back to this period. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the estate finally left the castle and began to disintegrate.