Čachtice (, ) is a village in

Nové Mesto nad Váhom District Nové Mesto nad Váhom District (, ) is a district in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, ...

in western

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

with a population of 4,010 (as of 2014). The village is situated between the

Danubian Lowland ::''The Serbian lowland is treated under Danubian Plain (Serbia)'' The Danubian Lowland or Danube Lowland () is the name of the part of Little Alföld (Slovak: ''Malá dunajská kotlina'') situated in Slovakia, located between the Danube, the Litt ...

and the

Little Carpathians The Little Carpathians (also: ''Lesser Carpathians'', ; ; ) are a low mountain range, about 100 km long, and part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto n ...

. It is best known for the ruins of the nearby

Čachtice Castle Čachtice Castle (; , ) is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason. The castle was a residence and later the prison of ...

, home of Erzsébet Báthory. The castle stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and the area was declared a national nature reserve (''Čachtický hradný vrch'') for this reason.

History

Prehistoric settlements from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Hallstatt period The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to ...

La Tène period LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

periods and the early

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

period have been found here. The first written reference to the village dates from 1263. Čachtice has received the status of a town in 1392, but it was later degraded back to a village. In 1847 the parsonage was the meeting place of the first Slovak national and cultural society Tatrín, at which the definitive decision to use the central Slovak dialects as the basis for the new standard of the codified

Slovak language Slovak ( ; endonym: or ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech-Slovak languages, Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script and formerly in Cyrillic script. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is ...

was adopted. Before the establishment of independent

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1918, Čachtice was part of

Nyitra County Nyitra County (; ; ; ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory lay in what is now western Slovakia. Geography Nyitra County shared borders with the Austrian land Moravia and Trencsén County, Turó ...

within the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

Castle

The castle was built in the 13th century in order to protect a trade route to

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. The most famous owner was the Countess Erzsébet Báthory, who was imprisoned in her own castle and died there in 1614. The castle was abandoned in 1708 and now lies in ruins. Recently, the castle has undergone minor reconstructions. Image:Csejtecivertanlegi2.jpg, Čachtice Castle from the air Image:Csejtecivertanlegi1.jpg, Čachtice Castle from the air Image:Csejtecivertanlegi3.jpg, Čachtice Castle from the air Image:Csejtecivertanlegi4.jpg, Čachtice Castle from the air Image:Slovakia Cachtice hrad 2.JPG, Čachtice Castle Image:Čachtický hrad a Višňové.jpg, Čachtice Castle surviving tower

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Bratislava, Slovakia" * Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1661-1921 (parish A) * Lutheran church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1783-1922 (parish B)

Monuments

* Čachtice Castle * Roman Catholic Church of St. Ladislava * The Marian column * The Calvary sculpture

Transport

* Railway - the village lies on a branchline connecting it with

Myjava Myjava (; historically also Miava, , ) is a town in Trenčín Region, Slovakia. Geography It is located in the Myjava Hills at the foothills of the White Carpathians and nearby the Little Carpathians. The river Myjava flows through the town. It ...

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a List of towns in Slovakia, city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech Republic, Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a populati ...

and Vrbovce approximately 12 times daily.

Notable people

* Erzsébet Báthory (c.1560–1614) Hungarian countess famous for her notorious cruelty * Rudolf Strechaj (1914–1962) communist politician * Jozef Balala (1915–1980) teacher and mathematician

References

External links

*
Slovakia Cachtice (Bathory) Castle

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cachtice Villages and municipalities in Nové Mesto nad Váhom District