Castle Tematín, the ruins of castle that have remained of it, are still majestically overlooking the valley of river Váh. Castle since its inception fulfilled gardian function, and together with Trenčín Castle, Beckov castle and Čachtice castle, was part of the protection of Kingdom of Hungary (Uhorsko).
From the 13th century, this castle lying on one of the hills of Považský Inovec mountains was the center of county comprising several villages lying on the left side of the river Váh. Its area was relatively small, although historically not insignificant. Area of Middle Považie is one of the oldest settlements in Slovakia. Archaeological finds provide us with sufficient evidence that people have established their homes practically uninterrupted from prehistoric times. Favorable conditions for the settlement attracted here our Slavic ancestors already in the early Middle Ages.
Presently Civic association Castle Tematín (OZ Hrad Tematín) works on rescue of castle under the supervision of top experts from many disciplines.
From the history of Tematín Castle
The first walled structures of the castle were built around 1250. After the invasion of the Tatars (1241-1242) in the territory of Kingdom of Hungary (Uhorsko) the country was ravaged, the population dropped by more than half, not to mention material damages. King Belo IV. (1235-1270), therefore, tried very quickly to restore the country. A chain of stone castles was built in Považie, one of them was Tematín castle. Their task was to defend the country against attacks from outside.
Around the year 1300 it acquired Matúš Čák of Trenčín (Matúš Čák Trenčiansky) - nobleman and military leader, but we have not preserved any documents about this fact. Tematín Castle is mentioned for the first time in documents in 1347 when King Ľudovít I. gave it to the ancestor of the genus Ujlaki - to Vavrinec Tót from Raholec (Nitra, Wallachian and Sopron district administrator). In 1524 the castle was acquired by Thurzo family from Betlanovce.
After Thurzo family died out in the male line, acquired in 1638 by royal donations whole castle county Tematín and Richnava county important Moravian noblemen Ján and Ondrej Rottal, Július Fitter with wife, František Šándor with wife Katarína Rottal. Later on, the individual parts of the castle changed its owners to Čáky family, Berény family, and later the quarter to Berčény family, especially known by Nicholas (Mikulášom) - one of the generals of the uprisings of Francis II Rákóczi (František II. Rákóci).
After the suppression of the uprising and prosecution of Nicholas, the castle was damaged by the imperial forces in 1710. Nevertheless, some of its parts continued to serve, as evidenced by the documents of 1716. In 1721, the last written record was the castle's inventory. It is reported that there is nothing in the castle already and is no longer guarded by the crew.
Eastern Tatras (Východné Tatry)