Devin Castle

About a 15 minute taxi ride from Bratislava, headed upstream along the Danube, we come to the confluence of the Morava river with the Danube. here, on a high rocky outcropping, is the Devin Castle. Or at least what is left of it.



Although people have lived on this site since at least the first century BC when the Celts were here, the first mention in text of the castle as in 864 AD when it was referred to as Dowina in the Annals of Fulda. There was mostly likley a stone castle here by the first third of the 13th century.

In 1809, it was demolished by the French as Napoleon moved through the area. The last family to own the castle, the Palffys, acquired it in 1635 and sold it to the Czechoslovak Republic for a token 1,000 crowns in 1932.

There are portion of the castle that have been rebuilt, but most of it is in ruins. Excavations are still in progress to find the items lefts by former inhabitants. Most of the restored spaces are used as museum space to display the bits found so far.

However, the real attraction is the view from the ramparts.

The mall village of Devin lies at the foot of the hill.

The hills on the other side of the village are part of the protection that attracted the original settlers to this spot.

In spite of the cruel treatment at the hands of the French, some sections are still largely intact. The floor, is of course, new for people like me to walk upon.

Below we see where the Morava river (for which Moravia is named) joins the Danube. In the distance is Slovakia.

Looking across the Danube, we see Austria shrouded in the morning haze.

As you can see, the walls of the castle rise above the stony hill that sits at this location.

The area around here is, as I suspect has long been the case, farmland.

This view looking upstream along the Danube shows Austria to the left and Slovakia to the right.

A smaller castle built as a dwelling for the Garai family in the 15th century.

It is easy to see how the castle and it owners imposed on the mere mortals that lived below. It once was a large and commanding place.

With a nip in the air and the colors of all in full bloom, I wait for the taxi ride back to Bratislava and lunch.