Castles in Slovakia Activity

Some pupils in Upton saw a presentation about castles in Slovakia as "Grand Designs' had been their topic of the term. They were told some stories connected to castles and kings who used to live there. Then they drew pictures and wrote what they could remember. Class 3a has 18 pupils and are taught by Mrs Palmer, Class 3b has 19 pupils and are taught by Mr Hallis, Class 4 has 28 pupils and are taught by Miss Ryan. (click here to see how we decorated the doors in the classrooms)

We mentioned these castles:

The Orava Castle:
The exteriors of the 1922 classic vampire film "Nosferatu" were filmed here, when the castle doubled for Transylvania.

The Trencin Castle and its legend:
Perhaps every child in Slovakia knows the 80-m deep castle well and the tale about Omar and Fatima.
The legend says that the lord of the Castle, Štefan Zápoľský seized the beautiful Turkish princess Fatima.
One Turkish prince Omar who loved Fatima arrived with a load of gold to buy Fatima off. However, the lord of the Castle demanded Omar should dig a well in the courtyard of the Castle.
For three years he had been digging with his companions till the rock truly gave water off. Only a few of the diggers had, however, stayed alive.
A first goblet of water Omar handed over to Zápolský, saying so, “Your heart is harder than a rock” but the couple was given the landlords blessing afterwards.

The Nitra Castle:
During the reign of Svätopluk I the Great Moravia started to develop and became an important European superpower. Nitra was one of its main centres if not its metropolis. It is documented in one of the most famous of Slovak legends.
The powerful ruler wanted to solve the problem of his successor even before his death.
The well-known legend says that the king Svätopluk asked his sons to come to him before his death. He gave a twig to each of them and asked them to break it. The young noblemen could easily do it. Then he asked to tie together three twigs and asked his son again to break them. This task appeared to be more difficult.
Thus the king demonstrated how it is necessary to be united. That only the strength of a united kingdom guarantees the country its power and prosperity.
The Spissky Castle:
The biggest medieval castle in central Europe.