Photo source: Aleksandar Todorovic
With a rich history dating back more than six hundred years, Corvin Castle, also called Huniazilor Castle, is one of the main tourist attractions of our country, being present countless times in the top of the most beautiful castles in Europe.
It is visited by tens of thousands of people every year, this number being increasing since the castle was modernized with European funds. Tourists are delighted and impressed by the large rooms in which the voivode Ioan de Hunedoara and Matia Corvin, his son, king of Hungary, once lived after transforming what was once a simple fortress into a grandiose castle.
Also, visitors come to the castle attracted by the fascinating legends that circulate around it, many of them asking questions whose answers we can not find even today.
Here are some of the mysteries related to the Corvin Castle in Hunedoara:
It was a place of refuge for the refugees of the revolt of Horia, Closca and Crisan. It seems that, in 1784, the Huniazilor Castle sheltered the nobles from the valleys of Muresuui, Streiului and Tara Hategului, together with their families, hiding them from the revolts of Horia, Closca and Crisan. According to several historical documents, around 3,000 people took refuge in the castle for fear of the insurgents.
It's haunted.Being a place with a bloody and troubled past, around the fortress circulate some stories from the popular beliefs of the locals, who say that in the castle there are immortal spirits. One of the most famous stories is about Ana, the wife of the nobleman Ioan Torok who ruled the castle at the end of the 16th century. The story goes that Ana was severely punished and, a few days later, killed with a nail in the head, following accusations of adultery. Since then, the locals claim that Ana's spirit walks through the castle, especially through the inner courtyard, the place where she was executed.
He captured Vlad Tepes, the ruler of Wallachia in 1448, 1456-1462 and 1476.Another legend quite often circulated about Corvin Castle says that Vlad Tepes was held captive in the fortress for 7 years. The popularity of this legend has become so great that it has transcended the borders of the country and has become a subject of documentation for foreign historians, writers and journalists. Bram Stoker, the author of the story of the vampire count Dracula, describes the castle as a dark and mysterious place of shadows, where the sound of the wind hits the ramparts angrily. However, historians claim that the great ruler of Wallachia was not really a captive in the castle. Vlad Tepes was indeed arrested on the orders of the then king of Hungary, Matia Corvin, but his place of captivity was somewhere near Buda, and the period of arrest was 12 years. The reason for the arrest was a false letter of treason,
Prisoners used to be tortured in the castle. Right at the entrance to the castle, in the room on the left, visitors can enter a Torture Room today. This obscure room, which has a terrible history behind it, was used as a place of torture for the prisoners of the castle until 1785, after the end of the revolt of Horia, Closca and Crisan.
Historians of ancient times claim that the methods of torture used in the castle were so sadistic that the prisoners even had their skins peeled off while they were alive. Today, visitors can see mannequins with the appearance of medieval prisoners and the methods of torture to which they were subjected.
There are many more interesting legends circulating around Corvinilor Castle. To find out all about them, it is best to visit him in person. The entrance ticket is 5 lei for students and pupils, and for adults it is 20 lei in January, February, November and December, 25 lei in March, April, September and October and 30 lei between May and August .
