Brzotín (hrad)

Brzotín, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Brzotín (hrad), or Brzotín Castle, is a vanished 13th-century ruin on a rocky terrace above the village of Brzotín in eastern Slovakia's Slovak Karst region, originally fortified around 1250 by the Bebek family after aiding King Béla IV against Mongol invaders. Acquired by the Mariássy family in 1293, who expanded it into a stone fortress with a rectangular palace and courtyard to oversee mining wealth and a local toll station, it changed hands through noble disputes, Hussite occupations under Jan Jiskra in 1451, and robber barons known as "red friars" by the 16th century. Destroyed by Ottoman forces in 1573 after sieges and raids, its scant remnants became Andrássy family property, now overgrown and accessible only by challenging hikes amid dramatic cliffs.