Hunedoara Castle (also known as Hunyad Castle,
Huniazilor Castle, Corvinestilor Castle) is a Gothic-Renaissance castle overlooking the town of
Hunedoara in south-west Transylvania, Romania.
Hunyad Castle History
The earliest documentary evidence of the comitat of
Hunyad Castle is from 1276, and its earliest known
administrator is mentioned in 1295; the first castle also dates from the second half of the
13th century, but little remains of this period, although its original plan was established by
István Möller, who restored the castle in the early 20th century. As usual in Hungary at that
period, it ran along the edge of a long cliff.
In 1409 King Sigismund of Luxembourg gave the castle to Vajk, the
leader of the Romanian settlement, and his son John. The present building was
commissioned by John Hunyadi, imperial regent of Hungary, who built it in two stages.
With its magnificent shape and careful detailing, this building gives an idea of the lost
splendour of the castle of Buda, the royal capital.
In the 1430s an outer ring with towers was built parallel to the old
wall, preserving the basic form of the original plan. A rock-cut moat surrounds the inner
castle, which was built in the second phase (1440s–1450s).
On the west side of the massive courtyard the two-storey Knights’ Hall
wing was built. Each storey has two aisles, with rib vaults supported by a single row of
octagonal piers. The Gothic inscription on a capital in the lower hall gives the name of the
patron and the year 1452.
The upper hall is reached by a spiral stair. Its entrance has a
pointed arch with a surround decorated with pinnacles and a tympanum containing the finely
carved arms of the Hunyadi family (a raven with a ring in its beak).
Opening on to the hall to the west is a vaulted passage with four
polygonal bay windows, which give the west façade a particularly rich appearance. The fine
castle chapel in the east range has a vault boss also decorated with the Hunyadi arms. The
parapet of its west gallery has the arms of John Hunyadi’s wife’s family, the
Connected to the south end of the castle is an enclosed passage
supported by massive piers, which leads to the place of ultimate refuge, called the Nebojsa
(Hungarian: ‘Have no fear’).
The north range, the Golden House, was extended in the third quarter
of the 15th century by King Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi. His brick
building is easily distinguishable from the earlier stone buildings.
A two-storey arcade opens on to the courtyard, its upper storey
ornamented with a narrative wall painting, probably representing the legendary genealogy of
In the 17th century the castle passed into the possession of the
Transylvanian princes and, especially under Gabriel Bethlen (1613–1629), was embellished with
new extensions and various alterations.
The upper storey of the Knights’ Hall was divided into three rooms by
removing the vaulting and piers, and beneath the new flat roof were painted pictures of famous
men. Prince Bethlen also divided the chapel with a vault.
Later the Hunedoara Castle gradually fell into
partial ruin; after a serious fire in 1854 restoration work continued until 1914. The
restorations undertaken in the 1960s included the return of the chapel and the upper Knights’
Hall to their original state.
Hunedoara Castle Address: Strada Curtea
Corvineștilor 1-3, Hunedoara 331141, Romania. Get help with directions using the map provided
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