History Hertník Castle Its history began around the middle of the 16th century, when the Hertnice estate came into the possession of the noble Forgáč family of Jelenec (Gýmeš). One of its members, Baron Šimon Forgáč (1526–1598), received Hertník as a grant from Emperor Ferdinand I in 1553 in recognition of his military merits in the fight against the Turks and the princes of Transylvania. As a prominent military officer, he required a suitably stately residence for his new estate.
However, he did not build the Renaissance manor house on a greenfield site, but probably on the site of an older castle, which had existed since around the mid-15th century as a military and defensive outpost at the junction of the road linking Bardejov and Prešov, leading into the Sabinov Valley and towards Šariš Castle. It is said to have been built by Ján Jiskra of Brandýs.
The architecture of the castle
Forgáčovský manor house was built as a four-tower two-storey block building with a rectangular plan. The large courtyard was enclosed by a wall with an entrance gate, which was still fortified in several places by bastions and protected by a wide moat around its entire perimeter from the outside. A large, so called "moat" became a part of the manor grounds. Men's garden with fruit and ornamental trees and a pond. Farm buildings and a servants’ quarters, where the staff lived, were built between the garden and the courtyard. The manor house once also included a chapel. A record has survived showing that, as late as 1858, the then Countess Forgáčová had it refurbished and fitted with an altar. Local legend speaks of a secret passage which is said to lead from the manor house to the church crypt or into the forest.
As the centre of an estate which, in addition to Hertník, included the surrounding and more distant villages of Osikov, Šiba, Hervartov, Krivé, Kríže, Bogliarka, Žatkovce, Livov, Venecia and Lukov, this building served this purpose for approximately 350 years. The manor house was severely damaged during the Second World War and therefore had to be partially restored in 1952. The most recent renovation took place at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, after which the building took on its present appearance. There is also a park in the vicinity. Since 1993, the manor house has been home to the KOR-GYM Integration Centre.
Hertník Manor is part of Šariš Castle Road
Source: Hertník Local Authority, KOR-GYM
Source of photographs: OOCR RŠ
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