Füzérkő Vára, Castle ruin in the Bükk Mountains, Hungary
Füzérkő Vára is a ruined castle in the Bükk Mountains, north of Bükkzsérc, on a ridge about 150 metres northeast of the 449-metre Füzér-kő peak, where the Hór and Hosszú valleys meet. Its remains occupy a 24×15-metre plateau, with a steep drop on the southeast and a filled-in moat forming a lower terrace on the other sides. A short section of wall foundation survives on the northwest side.
Füzérkő Vára is known from a single charter: in 1248 King Béla IV allowed Lampert, Bishop of Eger, to build a castle on Füzér-kő or Kerek-kő, which he owned. The castle was probably finished within a few years. No record of its destruction survives, and the lack of later mentions suggests it was used only briefly. Late 20th-century research identified the ruins with the bishop's castle.
The castle's name comes from the nearby Füzér-kő peak, and the only written trace of it is a 1248 charter in which King Béla IV allowed Lampert, Bishop of Eger, to build a castle on Füzér-kő or Kerek-kő. The bishop's castle was identified with these ruins only in the late 20th century. Visitors can see the filled moat that now forms a terrace a few metres below the plateau.
The ruins lie on a 24×15 m plateau on the ridge northeast of the Füzér-kő peak (449 m), above the meeting of the Hór and Hosszú valleys, north of Bükkzsérc. The southeast side drops in a steep cliff; on the other sides a filled-in moat now forms a terrace a few metres below the walls. Only the wall foundations on the northwest side survive, so the site is reached on foot along the ridge; no marked car park or visitor facilities are recorded.
No archaeological excavation has ever been carried out at Füzérkő, and not a single potsherd has been found that could date the ruins. The identification of these stones with the bishop's castle of the 1248 charter was only made at the end of the 20th century. A cave with stalactites near the castle yielded prehistoric stone tools and pottery in 1932.
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