SOMOSKA (SOMOSKő)CASTLE

The dynasty Kacsics had the castle built on a 526-m-high volcanic cone in the 13th century. The fortification had several owners, including the landowner Mate Csak, and the king Robert Karoly. After crushing the Rakoczi War of Independence in 1711 the castle was set to fire, but the walls were not destroyed completely. On the northern side of the castle you find the famous cataract of basalt, as the hot basalt got petrified in the form of arched columns. This kind of rare geological formation only exists on four places of the world. The narrow pentagonal and hexagonal columns were formed as the basalt got cool, and at certain points their height is not less than 9 m. A part of these rock formations were used for the construction of the castle, as well.

Hrad SOMOSKA bol postaveny okolo 1570 po vpade Tatarov rodom Kacsicsovcov a bol pomenovany podla dedinky Somoska (Somoskő), ktora lezi pod nim. Jeho majitelmi boli aj Matus Csak a kral Karol Robert.V roku 1711 v dobe Rakocziho povstani bol vypaleny, mury vsak neboli uplne zburane. K ciastocnej rekonstrukcii doslo v 80-tych rokoch minuleho storocia. Pod hradom, na jeho severnej strane sa nachadza svetoznamy cadicovy vylev. Vo vyske asi 500 m n.m. su cadicove stlpce, dlhe az 16 m, ohnute do obluku, usporiadane ako organove pistaly. Z obce Siatorska Bukovinka vedie sem geologicky naucny chodnik ktoreho stanovistom je aj cadicovy vylev.