Tokaj Castle, Medieval castle ruins in Tokaj, Hungary.
Tokaj Castle is a ruined medieval fortress at the confluence of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers in Tokaj, Hungary. Only the remains of one of its walls still stand, at the edge of the Tokaj-hegy, Bodrogköz, Taktaköz and Nyírség regions. The site was once surrounded on two sides by the two rivers and on the third by an artificial canal, so it could be reached only by boat, especially during floods.
The first castle, a hillfort called Kőrév on the right bank of the Bodrog, was destroyed during the Mongol invasion. In 1283 Ladislaus IV allowed the Nyír nobles to build a castle; the stone fortress was besieged in 1290 and ruined then or soon after. A new castle was raised on the left bank in the second half of the 14th century, first mentioned in 1410 when Sigismund granted it to János Garai.
The castle gave its name to Tokaj, the town and wine region below it. In 1458 local nobles gathered here to back the newly elected Matthias Corvinus against the Hussites, and in 1628 Gabriel Bethlen held his wedding in the fortress. The Hungarian Holy Crown was kept here when Bethlen attacked in 1619.
Only one wall of the castle survives, at the meeting point of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers in Tokaj. The site lay where the Tokaj hill, Bodrogköz, Taktaköz and Nyírség regions meet, and the rivers plus an artificial canal on the north side once made it reachable only by boat, especially at flood time.
The castle was never taken by the 1670 uprising: 12,000 men under Szuhai Mátyás and Szepesi Pál besieged it and failed, and the kuruc siege of 1678 also failed, though the retreating troops burned the town. The imperial garrison repaired the damage and in 1673 built a larger timber bridge over the Tisza.
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