We’ve already visited all the castles in our immediate area, so now we have to travel quite a bit further for adventure. I’d had my eye on Uhrovec Castle for a while, and when the timing finally worked out, we set off one sunny Saturday to explore it.
It was just Dávid and me, so I entered “Uhrovecké Podhradie” into the GPS. Don’t trust the car’s navigation system! It led us to the end of the road and then tried to send us another 7 kilometers through the forest. After a quick look at the map, I managed to correct the destination, though we had already made a good half-hour detour. We didn’t drive right up to the foot of the castle; I chose a slightly longer route—after all, the weather was beautiful—so we walked across the meadows to Uhrovec instead. And the meadows rewarded us with lovely crocuses.
A hiking sign by the parking lot below the castle indicated it was a 45-minute walk to the top; Dávid took this as a challenge and practically ran up the hill. We reached the castle in 25 minutes—and even that was only because I couldn’t keep up. 😀
Uhrovec Castle is located in the Strážov Mountains; it features a well-preserved chapel and towers, as well as a large palace where one can still see a fireplace, latrines, and cisterns.
The castle was very well situated; consequently, it did not become a center of combat, and it is said that for this reason, it was never conquered.
However, the castle lost its original function during the 18th century and began to fall into ruin after a fire in 1848. Currently, there are efforts to save and restore it.
There is even a snack bar at the castle, and if you’re lucky, very friendly ladies will be frying up fresh langoše and doughnuts (we were lucky enough to have one of those langoš as an afternoon snack).
Dávid was 7 years old at the time of the trip.
