Trenčin Castle

Slovakia

Trenčin Castle was the place of the signing of the Peace Treaty of Trenčin

The conflict between the King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg and Polish King,  Kasimir III had necessarily to end.

The Treaty of Trenčin was concluded on 24th August 1335 between the King Kasimir III  of Poland and the King John of Bohemia as well as his son Charles IV.

This Treaty consecrated the transfer of suzerainty over the former Polish province of Silesia to the Kingdom of Bohemia, integrated the Duchies of Silesia into the Bohemian Crown while King John and his son Charles in turn finaly waived their claims to the Polish trone. The agreement would be confirmed, when the rulers met in the Congress of Visegrad  later in November 1335.

The treaties agreed at the meeting of the three rulers at Trenčin Castle were gradually signed at the following dates : the 3rd September 1335, the  19th November 1335, the 22nd November 1335, the 26th November 1335, the 3rd December  and the 6th January 1336.

Subsequently, the three kings, John of Luxemburg (Czech), Charles Robert (Hungarian)  and Kazimir III (Polish) met in Visegrad on the Danube river, presently in Hungary.

On 3th September 1335 was signed the Czech-Hungarian Alliance Treaty  and the next Alliance Treaty was signed in the next months in Visegrad.

A period of peace and economic prosperity was the main result of the Treaty of Trenčin.

The Treaty of Trenčin, as one part of Triple Alliance Visegrad Negotiations,  aimed also at the unification of trade, taxes and trade routes. So this Triple Alliance was a miniature precursor of the future European Union.

Adress and contacts

Mierové námestie 42, 911 01 Trenčín

Phone – (+421) 032/743 44 31

Email – info@muzeumtn.sk, hrad@muzeumtn.sk

Facebook  Trenčianske múzeum

Location

Trenčín is a city in western Slovakia situated close to the Czech border. It lies approximately 120 km from the capital – Bratislava. It is the center of Považie Region.

GPS Coordinates: 48°53’39.0″N 18°02’41.0″E

How to get it

Trenčín belongs to significant transport intersections with developed transportation infrastructure. The most important transportation connections include:

  • Highway D1 (Bratislava – Žilina), distance from the capital is 124 km, an hour by car
  • Road E50 – connection to Brno (Czech Republic)
  • Railway Bratislava – Košice, part of the international PAN-European corridor Balt – Adria
  • Airports – Trenčín – a local military airport, international airports in Bratislava (124 km), Vienna (170 km)
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Visitable spaces

Trenčín Castle

The Barracks at Trenčín castle were built as a part of a large fortification structure when the castle was owned by the Zápolya family in the 1st part of the 16th century. They served  as accommodation  for the castle’s military crew. They were also used as a storeroom for military  apparatus. This included barrels with gun-powder for cannons, arquebuses, muskets, cold weapons such as halberds, spears and pikes, complete sets or individual parts of armour. The Barracks were used to protect the access road from the town to the castle.

The oldest part of barracks is the western wall, originally linking the Clock Tower with the Upper Castle whose existence  is related to construction activity led by Matthew Csák. This Early Gothic period can be dated at the turn of the 13th and 14th century.

The Late Gothic period from the beginning of the 16th century is already related to the construction of barracks itself. In the first decades of the 16th century there was a two – storied building with today´s size 36 x 10-17 m adjoined to the castle wall. In the past, some authors claimed that barracks had been built as a three-storied building but a recent study could not prove it. The ground floor was accessible via a portal on a northern facade. The Barracks had a terrace roof at that time.

The third construction phase, the Late Gothic II., was based on additional construction of the third storey. This was most likely done after a devastating besiegement of the castle in 1528,  possibly between 1534-1550.

The fourth construction phase was during the Renaissance.  It can be noticed mostly in the details of the building.

Nowadays, the first and second floor are used for exhibitions. On the first floor, there is a permanent exposition called Unconquered. It consists of two parts. The historical part includes medieval and modern cold weapons, firearms or shot-firing arms. The Archeological part is dedicated to the findings from the archeological survey of barracks.

Useful Information

Opening hours, staff and links

  • Opening timetable

    The site is continuously available throughout the year, with the following timetable:

    From October to March:  09.00-17.00

    From April to September: 09.00-19.00

  • Site service staff

    Director’s Department:

    Director of the Trenčín Museum in Trenčín

    Mgr. Peter Martinisko

    Deputy director, lawyer

    JUDr. Mgr. Tomáš Michalík, PhD.

    e-mail: tomas.michalik@muzeumtn.sk

    Assistant director

    B.Sc. Jan Čierna

    e-mail: jana.cierna@muzeumtn.sk

    Economic department:

    Department head

    Ing. Ingrid Dvorská

    e-mail: ingrid.dvorska@muzeumtn.sk

    Department of operation and building management:

    Department head

    Ing. Jaroslav Šimno

    e-mail: jaroslav.simno@muzeumtn.sk

    phone number: +421 901 918 827

    Castle administration department:

    Department head

    Mgr. Drahomíra Salihbegović

    e-mail: drahomira.salihbegovic@muzeumtn.sk

    phone number: +421 901 918 832

    Department of basic professional activities

    Department head

    PhDr. Richard Benech

    e-mail: richard.benech@muzeumtn.sk

    phone number: +421 32 743 44 31

    Marketing department:

    Department head

    Ing. Katarína Špačková

    e-mail: katarina.spackova@muzeumtn.sk / marketing@muzeumtn.sk

    phone number: +421 901 918 858