Old Castle

The castle is located on the side of Paradise Hill. It was originally built as a church. It is said that the Templars, the red friars, built it in the 13th century, as a three-nave, Romanesque-style basilica. At that time, the city still stood on the hill around the church. The Templars led a warlike life here, so they fortified their monastery with a circular wall, so it became a real fortress. According to legend, the master of the Templars paid a visit to a nearby castle lord and really liked the lord's daughter. The master managed to get the young lady to visit him with a small entourage, whom he never let go of again. In order to leave no trace of his crime, he got rid of both the lady and her entourage, and sent a message to the worried father that he had left the castle with the lady's entourage a long time ago, and that she had probably had trouble on the way. A pure-hearted young Templar knight revealed the crime to his father. He was bent on revenge and attacked the castle when they were having a big party. The young man let the attacking army in, and they slaughtered all the members of the order, and thus the Templars disappeared from here. The monastery later became a parish, and the Dominicans lived in it. Famous citizens of the city, which had meanwhile retreated into the valley, were buried here. A whole row of tombstones can still be seen today, attached to the walls. After the destruction of the Tatar invasion, Rozgonyi's troops and the earthquake, the castle church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 16th century, and the castle monastery was taken over by the city. During the Turkish threat, the castle church was transformed into a defensive castle and equipped with a garrison. The large bell tower was built in the 17th century. The castle walls have the shape of an elongated pentagon, with a strong bastion at each corner. Due to the development of military technology, despite its warlike appearance, it was no longer suitable for defense during the Turkish period, as it could easily be shot from Paradise Hill. ; Academicians held physical education classes here from 1860.