History
In 1363, the extensive castle estate, encompassing over 60 villages, was divided into three smaller units: Čičva, Vranov and Skrabské. Čičava Castle (Hungarian: Csicsva) ceased to serve as the residential seat of the noble family and may have fallen into temporary neglect, although its first expansion probably took place at the beginning of the 15th century. The estate was then managed by Rajnold’s descendants, members of the powerful Rozgonyi family. In 1414, the castle was recorded in documents as “castrum lapideum”, while in 1493 its tower and outer bailey were mentioned. In the same year, the castle was also divided between two branches of the family, which was probably associated with further architectural transformations.
In 1523, with the death of István Rozgonyi, the male part of the Rozgonyi family died out, and the castle was taken by István’s son-in-law, András Báthori, one of the greatest magnates in the Kingdom of Hungary. The marriage of his grandson István to Euphrozina Drugeth brought representatives of another great family into the history of Čičava. The castle also gained importance due to the meetings of the Zemplín county and the storage of the county archives. Unfortunately, the latter burned down in 1527, when Čičava was captured by Jan Zápolya. In 1610, the estate was acquired by György Drugeth as part of the dowry of the daughter of Erzsébet Báthori. Although the Drugeths restored the castle, they did not live there permanently. Moreover, during the anti-Habsburg uprisings it was repeatedly captured and destroyed: first in 1684 by Thököly’s troops, then in 1704 by Rákóczi’s troops. When in 1711 the imperial army recaptured it from the hands of the rebels, General Laucken ordered the fortifications to be demolished, and from then on the castle remained in ruin.
Architecture
The castle was built on a promontory of a hill, jutting out towards the south to the widening part of the valley of the Ondava River. It was protected on three sides by high slopes, the steepest in the east, where it fell in rocky escarpments towards the river. Only from the north was the approach to the castle more gentle, in a place where a narrow neck connected the promontory with the rest of the hill. This place could be cut off with a ditch, but during the development of firearms it became dangerous for defenders, due to the rasing level of the terrain towards the north.
The oldest part of the castle, located at the highest point of the hill, was a cylindrical tower, located in the northern part of the irregular perimeter of the walls. It had at least four floors and was equipped with a spur reinforcing its structure and designed to slide down missiles fired at it. For this reason, the spur was facing the access road. The walls of the tower were very thick, because while its outer diameter in the ground floor was 11 meters, the length of the interior diameter was only 5.5 meters. Also, the perimeter walls were quite thick, reaching 1.5 – 2 meters wide. In the 16th century, they were additionally thickened on the eastern side, reaching 3 – 3.5 meters. The tower served as a bergfried, flanking the entrance gate to the inner courtyard at its foot.
The oldest residential building of the castle was probably located in its south-eastern part, and therefore in the theoretically safest place of the courtyard. Its lowest storey was covered with a low barrel vault. At the end of the 14th century or at the beginning of the 15th century, the residential buildings were enlarged by three more vaulted rooms on the northern side of the older palace, adjoining in the north-eastern corner an irregular tower erected at that time, the shape of which was precisely adapted to the form of the rock outcrop.
North of the upper ward was located a 60-meter long outer bailey, reinforced with a defensive wall and two towers. One flanked the gate’s passage on the south – eastern side of the outer bailey, the other was formed at the farthest northern end, like a massive shield wall, protecting the castle from possible fire. On the west and north, at front of the outer bailey, a ditch was dug and an earth rampart was built. In the 16th century, on the eastern side of the upper castle, on the slope in front of the perimeter of the walls, a semicircular cannon tower was erected.
Current state
The castle ruins are visible from afar, thanks to the recent clearing of trees in their immediate vicinity. Fragments of the defensive walls, the remains of the eastern wing of the upper ward together with the vaulted basement of the oldest residential building and the northern and eastern part of the fortifications of the outer bailey have survived to this day. Since 2014, it have been covered by gradual renovation and reconstruction works carried out by a public association “Pro futuro hradu Čičva”. Admission to the area of ruins is free. The easiest way to get there is from the car park on the main road behind the village of Sedliská, along a path marked as a green tourist trail.
bibliography:
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Kotorová-Jenčová M., Porta Polonica – hrad Čič(a)va v sedliskách (okr. Vranov nad Topľou) [w:] Zamki w Karpatach, red. J.Gancarski, Krosno 2014.
Sypek A., Sypek.R., Zamki i obiekty warowne Słowacji Wschodniej, Warszawa 2005.
Wasielewski A., Zamki i zamczyska Słowacji, Białystok 2008.