Cachtice Castle
The ruins of the Cachtice castle dominate the country.It was one of the first defensive castles already in the 13th century it protected the western frontier of the country.The castle hill in Cachtice was inhabited as early as in a prehistoric era.First written note of the castle was preserved from 1276 when it belonged to royal border fortifications.
Cachtice was built in the mid 17117k1021r 13 th century by Kazimir of the House of Hunt -Poznan as a sentry on the road to Moravia.Later it belonged to Matus Cak of the Stibor zo Stiboric family and then to the famous Elizabeth Bathory.Cachtice its surrounding lands , was a wedding gift from the Nadasdy family upon Elizabeths marriage to Ferencz Nadasdy in 1572.
Originally Cachtice was a Romanesque castle with an intresting horse-shoe shaped resindence tower.It was turned into a Gothic castle.The Gothic stzle emphasizes verticality stone structures with great exapnses of glass,ribbed vaults , clustered columns and sharply pointed spires.Later the castle size was increased in the 15th and 16th centuries. A renaissance renovation followed in the 17 th century.The renaissance style places emphasis on symetry , proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts.In 1708 the castle was captured and plundered by the rebels of Fracis Rakoczi.Since that time it has been resisting inexorable ravages of time and falling apart slowly.
Acording to the story the Cachtice Landlady was very beautifull and she was afraid of oldness.Once her servant-girl hurt her accidentally with a comb.The Cachtice Landlady hit her servant-girl with such a force that she was squirted by the girls blood.When she looked to a mirror later , she had an impresion that her sjin seemed younger in the squirted spot.She succumbed to the temptation to become younger and wanted to have baths in the girls blood.
Girls from the environs were lured to the castle where they were killed using special iron maiden.The iron maiden had a necklace around its neck.When a girl wanted to take the necklace of the iron maiden, it gripped her long knives comming from the maiden breast killed her.Blood than drained to a bath .But this horrible deeds were discovered, tha Chachtice Landlady was caught red-handed. She was imprisoned in the castle.
Andrej Stiavnicky Cachticka pani the novel:
The
story starts when the priest Jan Ponicea has a visit from a secret guest, Ján
Kalina. He had left the village of his birth to study in Wittemberg four years
ago, and now he has returned even though a reward for his head has been
announced. He finds out, that his sister has disappeared, vanished into thin
air, three days ago.
He is suspicious of authority, but the priest advises him to be quiet, because
an uprising in Doza has recently been crushed and every suspicious character
will be regarded as a rebel.
Meanwhile, the priest is talking to Jan Kalina about what has happened during
his years of absence, when suddenly a naked, cripple woman burst in. She has
got a piece of her cheeks pulled out of her face scratched breast and within
five minutes she is dead. The catchpoles try to burst in with Ficko in the
lead, the most dutiful servant of MILADY. Jan uses the moment of panic to run
away to visit his mother. There he meets a beutiful girl called Maria Sútovská.
They are not happy for a long time, because Ficko is everywhere and he finds
him. Rebel cohorts save Kalina. Their huge and well-built captain, in who
Kalina discovers his long time friend Adam Drozda, is their leader. He joins
this group.
Pavel Ledener, a friend of Jan Kalian's, returns home to New city and his
girlfriend Barborka Repasova. But destiny isn't on his side; in his absence she
has married an alcoholic and sadist. Pavel is sad to death he doesn't know what
to do and what will happen.
At the same time Alzbeta punishes the catchpoles for the unsuccessful capture
of Jan Kalina. She is mad, she is raging, and she is fighting like a Kilkenny
cat. She takes comfort only when she sees the drubbed Ficko and she bursts out
with a mad laugh, but the smile on her face is rapidly frozen when she sees
Andrej Drozd, the instigator of Ficko's suffering coming through the gate. He
gives her a letter from Jan Kalina where he goads her into open combat. Andrej
Drozd capitulates. Catchpoles capture him. But right away he pulls the ropes
and runs away on the Milady's beloved horse, which is worth more than one
hundred self-rebellions to milady. When Andrej gallops through the wood, he
meets Erzika Príborská the young villain. He falls in love with her, so he
gives her the beautiful horse. Milady is sad and cries herself nearly to death.
She thinks of Senescence her biggest enemy, whom she can only fight with the
help of virgin blood in the same way as bestial Lukrezia Borgia did.
Suddenly the sorrow of her soul is interrupted by the tickling cackle of Erzika,
her niece. She tells her, she has brought back her horse VIRHAR. Alzbeta from
gratefulness tells her the secret of her life - her love story with a
mysterious man and because of this she conceived a child. At the end of her
narrative they find out that the child is Erika. Recovering from the betrayal
of his love, Pavel Leder gets an offer from a strange man to be a locksmith,
and because he is the best in this kind of work he takes the offer. He arrives
at the sinister basement and he finds out that the strange man is FICKO.
Ficko gives him a job to repair the iron virgin that was responsible for
killing young girls. Pavel repairs it, but only because he wants to obtain
Ficko's trust so that he can send secret messages to the rebels
The
rebels in the meantime take action. There are secretly buried bodies of young
girls in the grave under the Čachtice church. The rebels took the coffins
out and uncovered them so that the skeletons could be seen. The next day Jan
Poniceus finds a letter from his predecessor's murderer in one of the coffins
where he blamed Alzbeta Báthory for the young girl's murder and many other
bestial crimes. The anger of the people turns against Milady, but she orders
the capture of all the rebels. Pavel Lederer betrayed his friend Jan Kalina for
appearance's sake and for stronger truth between him and his
Milady. Before they had had enough time to execute him, the catchpoles are
lured out for the fight with the rebels and the bloody battle begins. Erzika
saves life to brave Andrej, shortly after he over shot Ficko hand that he used
to shoot Andrej. Erzika ran away from the house with her brothers' help and
this way she helped to rebels win the fight.
In the meantime there is the conference in Čachtice before executing of
Jan Kalina, where the Alzbeta was as well. When it is time to bring Kalina they
find out the jail is empty. Vavro the rebel who jumps out of the queue hurts
Milady with hot pliers and he runs away. Milady's strength is at its end and
she vents her anger on 12 dressmakers with the help of her three maidservants
-Ilona, Dora and Anna. None of these young girls survived their bestial
torture. But that wasn't it, Milady wanted to try the iron virgin. Marisa was
the right victim Marisa, Jan Kalian's love. At the last moment the stranger
saved her and he locks the milady with her three maidservants in the basement.
However, after few hours the omnipresent Ficko sets them free. Immediately
after that The Milady goes to Prespork to ask for help against to rebels. She
takes Erzika with her to banish the rebel, Andrej Drozd, from her heart.
In the castle, life goes on. Ficko wants to avenge the Imrich captain of the
catchpoles for ignominy, because Imrich degraded him in front of Alzbeta and
she fell in love with the same girl as he did, with Jan Kalian's sister -
Magdula Kalina. She was hiding and Pavel Lederer brought her to the rebel's
group.
Ficko puts Imrich in jail, but Lederer sets him free and he joins the
rebels. There is supposed to be a party in Esterhazys´in Prespork, where
Erzika should meet her expectant husband Earl Nyár. The Earl is known as an old
philanderer and he is forced to accept marriage with an inferior woman, because
Alzbeta has documents about the girls' sold to Turkish king, which can damage
his reputation. Alzbeta goes to her mysterious man whom she had met by the
river Váh years ago, but he is not interested.
Báthory comes back to Čachtice with an assurance of army support and with
the promise of Earl Nyár to marry Erzika. But there waits an unpleasant
surprise. Ficko has poisoned VIRHAR (the horse), but at the last minute he
makes it look as if the prisoner is ANNA Drabul, Alzbeta´s maidservant. She
kills her immediately.
On 10th May 1610 soldiers comes to Čachtice. The poor accommodate them.
During that time the events take a fast course. Erzika is supposed to marry the
Earl, but at the last moment Andrej, Erzika´s love, kidnaps her from the altar.
Earl Nyár takes the exhibit documents and destroys them. Alzbeta tries to shoot
Nyár, but his suit of armour saves him. He sets the girls from the jail free
and he humiliates Alzbeta by putting her on the rack.
The marriage between Erzika and Andrej was held at Nyár's castle. The Milady
was at the end of her power. She felt sadness in her soul, she was humiliated
in front of the plebs, and the bloody baths weren't helping any more. In
Čachtice a rebellion breaks out. The rebels were saved and Ficko and
Milady's maidservants were captured. There was a court of law in Bytča.
The executioner cut Dora's and Iona's fingers with hot pliers and Ficko was
only beheaded because of his young age. The Milady of Čachtice was
imprisoned in her own jail, where she tortured her victims and she died
presently without light or solace, lonely and spurned by the whole world.
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