History
The castle, originally known as Kovi, was built around the second half of the 13th century, when in 1243 king Bela IV donated deserted areas of central Gemer to Dytrych from the Ákošovce family (later Bebeks). It is known that in 1318 it was in the hands of brothers Nicholas, Kuno, Ladislav and Peter, sons of Benedict and grandchildren of the said Dytrych. Probably around the mid-fourteenth century, the castle was destroyed for reasons unknown today, because the document from 1367 only mentions the place after the castle. After some time, it was rebuilt, after which the name Rákoš was used more often. The castle operated until the second half of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century, when it was abandoned by the last owners, members of the Bebek family.
Architecture
The castle occupied the highest part of the hill protected by steep slopes. The defensive wall was led along the edges of the flat top, and from the north, where access to the main residential building was the easiest, an additional ditch was cut in the rock. The main residential building on an irregular quadrangle plan was placed in the northern, highest part of the courtyard. It had dimensions of 20 by 13-15 meters and a wall thickness of up to 2 meters. On its southern side, a short wall connecting with the rock blocks cut off a small courtyard, which can be considered as the upper castle. A quadrilateral tower was erected on the south side, and next to the western curtain wall probably another smaller tower was added. The southern tower, measuring 7 x 7.5 meters, flanked the entrance to the castle, located in a rock passage in the southwest corner. The demand for water was met by a tanker carved in the rock of the courtyard of the outer bailey. Wooden economic buildings were probably located in the eastern part of the outer bailey, surrounded by walls 1.2 meters thick.
Current state
To this day, the remains of the main residential building, part of the perimeter walls and traces of the southern tower have been preserved. Admission to the ruins is public.
bibliography:
Bóna M., Plaček M., Encyklopedie slovenských hradů, Praha 2007.
Wasielewski A., Zamki i zamczyska Słowacji, Białystok 2008.