Location: Deva, Hunedoara County Map
Constructed: 13th century
Be careful and watch your step. Don't stick you hands in crevices if you don't see what is inside.
This viper with rhombus pattern is poisonous and quiet common in the region
Deva Castle is situated on the volcanic hill overlooking city of Deva
in the Hunedoara County of Romania. Deva Castle was constructed to
protect an important pass in the Poiana Ruscă Mountains. This particular
fortification is easy to spot from a distance by the Hollywood - style
white letters that mark the location of citadel. The Deva Castle now
lays in ruins, but some imagination it is easy to imagine a bustling
town that once existed here. With strong towers those remains you can
see today and thick walls Deva offered safe haven for the dangerous war
torn region.
Unfortunately little is known of the origins of
both Deva Castle and the name that was given to it. One theory states
that it was founded by the Dacian warriors and the name came from
“dava”, Dacian word for “fortress”. Another theory grants the honor of
establishing fortified structure to Roman legion, the Legio II Augusta.
The unit was transferred here from British province in the third century
AD then Trojan, the last great emperor of the Roman, conquered Romania.
Legionnaires were previously stationed at Castrum Deva (now Chester,
Britain) thus bringing the name to the new location. Some scholars give
the origin of the name to the Slavic tribes that formed small settlement
a top of the hill since “deva” means “virgin”.
Either theory has
its own defenders and opponents, but the first documents that mention
the castle’s importance in the area dates back to 1269 then under Voivod
(army commander) John Hunyadi it grew to become an important
administrative and economical center. The castle was partially destroyed
in 1550 by the Turks, but it was quickly recaptured and extended
further. In 1621 Prince Gabriel Bethlen reconstructed and extended Magna
Curia Palace also known as the Bethlen Castle in Renaissance style. With
gunpowder invention and change of military tactics the castle fell in
disrepair. By the middle of the 19th century it was completely abandoned
by its garrison. Parts of the Deva Fortress were torn down and reused by
the local population.
After the Tatar invasion, a new citadel was built by King Béla IV,
the first document about the citadel dating from 1269. The Deva Citadel
is mentioned in a grant deed of the young king Stefan, son of Béla IV,
who makes a donation to the Chyl committee in Câlnic for the bravery
shown in the battle fought under the walls of the Deva Citadel. Four
years after its documentary attestation, fierce battles against the
Tatars took place under the fortress of Deva. At the end of the 13th
century, the fortress became the residence of voivodes Roland Borșa and
Ladislau Kán, from where they exercised their authority over the
Transylvanian voivodeship. The choice of the fortress as the voivodeship
residence proves that it was strong and had sufficient constructions to
satisfy the demands of the court. After 1315, the fortress returned to
the possession of King Charles Robert of Anjou. The castellans of the
Deva fortress are in the 14th century and comites of Hunedoara county.
In the 14th century, Deva and the surrounding villages are mentioned
as a "Wallachian military district", and the fortress had jurisdiction
over four seats (Deva, Ilia, Şoimuş, the Crisene estates and the
surroundings of Bradului), which were part of the royal domain and were
governed of cnezi. Locals had military duties and obligations regarding
maintenance, repairs and construction in the citadel. In 1302, the
fortress belongs to the Transylvanian voivodes. In 1580 it was
strengthened, here Török János won the fight against the Kasim pasha.
The fortress began to gain military value only in the 17th century.
After the Turks conquer Oradea, the Deva fortress remains the only one
unoccupied. In 1444, the royal fortress of Deva, which included a vast
area, came into the possession of Ioan de Hunedoara, the voivode of
Transylvania. Along with it, 56 villages were also taken over, as well
as the gold mines in the Apuseni Mountains, which belonged to the domain
of the fortress. It was also during his time that Deva's market, a
settlement located at the base of the hill, is mentioned for the first
time in a written document. The Corvin family ended their rule over the
fortress and the domain of Deva in 1504. In the second half of the 17th
century, Prince Gabriel Bethlen built a bastion in the fortress that
served as a prison and place of torture. At its base, a real residential
palace is built in the Renaissance style: the Magna Curia Palace.
In 1579, Bishop Francisc David (1520–1579), the Protestant preacher
and founding bishop of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania, was
imprisoned in the fortress of Deva. David Francis died there on November
15, 1579, in the prison where he had been imprisoned for heresy. Also in
this prison, General Basta wanted to execute the Transylvanian leaders.
In 1657 it was occupied by the Ottomans. During Rákóczi's uprising,
in 1704, the fortress falls into the hands of the Kuruts. In 1713, work
began to transform the fortress into a bastion fortification. Between
1717–1719, the fortress is strengthened again. In 1752, even though its
military importance has declined, the fortress is renewed. In 1784, the
fortress was attacked during the revolt of the serf peasantry from
Transylvania, among which were the Horia, Cloșca and Crișan estates.
From that moment, the Deva fortress no longer had military
functionality. The new owner will be Pogány Franciska, emptying the
entire fortress which will quickly fall into ruin. In 1817, Emperor
Francis I and his wife visiting Transylvania, impressed by the beauty of
the place, ordered the restoration of the Deva Citadel. The works lasted
12 years.
During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849, the
fortress was in the hands of Austrian soldiers under Commander Kudlich.
Fighting took place only after the liberation of Northern Transylvania
by the Polish general Bem. In February 1849, the revolutionaries led by
Avram Iancu also arrived here, as friends of the Austrians. The
Hungarian revolutionaries managed to occupy the fortress, thus becoming
one of the three fortresses occupied by the Hungarians, after Buda and
Arad.
On the morning of August 13, 1849, the fortress's gunpowder
store explodes. The citadel is mostly destroyed, the soldiers from the
citadel's garrison also perishing in the explosion. The entire eastern
side of the fortress was demolished. On August 18, 1849, General Bem
capitulated here to the Habsburg troops.
Description
There are
three enclosures of different shapes, occupying the summit and part of
the north side of the height:
first enclosure – ovoid shape;
the
second enclosure – irregular ovoid route;
third precinct -
approximately semicircular route.