Castle Mountain is often mentioned in connection with the village Šarišské Sokolovce. Until 1948, it was known as Tolčemeš. At the foot of of the Čergov Mountains At an altitude of 871 metres above sea level, a massive Slavic fortified settlement stood here in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The hillfort in the Čergov Hills
Castle near Šarišské Sokolovce was discovered J. Macák. It was built on the highest point of the steep, mountainous Lazíky ridge, which stretches between the Bernátské and Bodovské valleys in a north–south direction, on a conical hilltop.
The castle was founded in the 9th century and is preserved, mostly protected by dense forest cover. Gradually, its portification was modified until it acquired a fortification consisting of four huge ramparts that surround the entire Castle Mountain. The ramparts were built on it gradually. The first fortification mound of the foothills was formed as early as the 9th century. Other ramparts were built later in the 10th century. At that time, a rampart was also built, which divided the entire foothills into two parts. The castle took the form of a smaller acropolis with a more prominent top. Most probably a centre was located on Castle Hill, intended for the administration of a certain territorial area. It was supposed to protect the local community from the penetration of the militant Hungarian - Apradovian cohorts into this territory in the Carpathian Basin. For more than a thousand years the surrounding area has changed beyond recognition.
Its location and fortifications belong to the classical examples of Slavic fortifications in eastern Slovakia. The largest the length of the hillfort is 253 m, maximum width 125 m. A meadow adjoins the northeastern bend of the rampart, which slopes gently to the west. Approximately in its centre, a dark cultural layer was found on the surface during experimental research. A section through the rampart showed that it was piled with clay and stone. The stone was mainly used to strengthen it against the landslide of soil into the ditch. A novelty in the structural system of its mounding was the discovery of traces of charred timber, together with a small band of red-hot clay. The mounding system and the recovered shrapnel material, an iron crossbow with reverse wings and the torso of another crossbow proved that it was built by the Slavs probably in a younger period. The preserved remains of charred wood from the construction of the rampart, shards from the Early Bronze Age, a rare Slavic shard and an iron leaf-shaped spear allow to express the opinion that it was built by the population settled on the acropolis before the 10th century, to prevent easy access to the acropolis from the north-western side.
Finds and remains of the hillfort
At the Castle was found ceramic material. The oldest material found at the hillfort in the excavations so far is from the older part of the Younger Bronze Age (BD - HA - HB), which in eastern Slovakia is currently attributed to the Gáva culture, which expanded into this area from the south. The vessels were probably already being made on a faster-turning potter’s wheel, as evidenced mainly by the fine horizontal strokes or grooves in the surface of the shards.
Among the found iron objects is undoubtedly the most remarkable and most important torso of a complex-shaped oculus with triple curved arms; it is 8.6 cm long and 3.6 cm wide. The spike is of a completely different type from the existing grave finds of iron chairs from the Slavic-Avar and Old Hungarian periods in eastern Slovakia.
Found carbon samples from the culture layer, exposed on a platform outside the hillfort mound, was determined by E. Krippel of the Dionýz Štúr Institute of Geology in Bratislava in two cases as coming from birch (Ulmus) and in one case as coming from beech (Fagus). This finding was particularly noteworthy given that hornbeam woodland predominated at the hillfort and in its surroundings.
As a fortified settlement of the ancient Slavs, Hradisko was predominantly sacred nature.
Source: valka.cz, korzar.sk
Source of photographs: OOCR RŠ
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Hradisko lies 7 km north of Šarišské Sokolovce in the southern part of the Čergov Mountains.
It can be reached from Šarišské Sokolovce via the Bernátske Valley, from Bodovce along the ridge of Lazíky Hill, and from the village of Hradisko via the Ternianka Valley.
A rough, unpaved road runs from the village of Šarišské Sokolovce, via Bodovce, into the area around the Čergov Mountains; it is poorly signposted. Follow this road to reach the foot of the aforementioned hill; if you are travelling by car, park here and continue on foot along the forest track to the summit of Hradová hora. As you climb to the summit, the remains of a Slavic hillfort will come into view.
