Bratislava, part 3: Castle Crazy

Continued from Bratislava, part 2: Castle on the Hill



Having seen my first European castle, it would seem that I immediately contracted castle fever.  Before heading back into the old city of Bratislava, I had to check out another castle.  This one is even older than the Bratislava Castle and is located 11km (7mi) outside of the city. 

My guide book helpfully instructed me with which bus I could take to reach this remote castle.  I made my way down the hill and found the closest bus terminal.  I was looking at the schedule for the #29 bus that I needed, trying to figure out when the next bus would come.  Unfortunately (and unknown to me at the time), the #29 bus doesn't run on the weekends.  As my trip took place on a Saturday, it looked like I was going to have to find another cure for my castle fever. 

But just then it seemed my luck had changed.  A young woman approached me at the bus stop and asked if I was trying to get to the castle (I suppose the giant camera around my neck gave me away as a tourist).  She brought me up to speed with the bus not running on weekends and showed me another bus that would get me pretty close to the castle. 

Now that's the bus I want

The #28 bus took me west along the Danube, leaving the city in our wake.  Thirty minutes later I disembarked the bus and found myself in a quaint little hamlet.  Between the roofs of the houses I could see the remains of the Devin Castle. 

I'm not sure if I'm wearing the proper hat for crossing the street.

The Devin Castle (with hotel below)

The Devin Castle is in much worse shape than the renovated Bratislava Castle.  Rather than a fully formed building, the Devin Castle is a jumble of ruins.  Stone walls and the foundations of outbuildings are most of what remains. 

The main gate

Despite the cold, I wandered around the grounds of the castle, finding the foundations of every previous building that had been unearthed.  There was the gatehouse, an early Christian chapel, an ammunition store, and the Great Moravian church. 

The gatehouse

An early Christian chapel

A view of the Danube from a back gate

The ammunition store

The Great Moravian Church

Path back up to the main castle

Once I climbed to the top of the castle itself, I was able to appreciate the location.  Not only is the Devin Castle situated high on a hill with sheer sides (as all castles should be), but this particular hill is situated at the convergence of two great rivers: the Danube and the Moravia. 

The peons in the town below

The fields beyond are across the Moravia river, looking into eastern Austria.  Note the guy who climbed over to the window at the bottom of the tower.

The Moravia river

The Moravia river flows from the North where it forms the border between Slovakia and both Austria and the Czech Republic. 

The Danube

Me with the Danube and Austria behind

The Danube, with the Moravia river terminating to the right

The oldest parts of the castle date back to the first century A.D. and expansions were added through the centuries.  Now, all that remains are a few stone walls maintained as a museum to the might of the former inhabitants: the Celts, the Slavs, and the Moravians.