Hrad Hrušov

Hostie, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Hrad Hrušov near Hostie, Slovakia, is a Gothic castle ruin built in the mid-13th century on a quartzite hill called Skalka after the Mongol invasions to guard trade routes linking Požitavie and Ponitrie regions. First documented in 1253 (or possibly 1293), it passed through noble families like the Lévai (1321-1344), then royal ownership, later granted to figures such as Miklós Kont of Topoľčianky in 1347, enduring Hussite occupations in the 1440s before Count László Rákóczi's 17th-century defensive renovations. Destroyed by imperial forces in 1708 during Francis II Rákóczi's anti-Habsburg uprising, it was abandoned and quarried for road-building in the 1870s, leaving remnants of walls, towers, and a preserved ground plan with stunning panoramic views.