Slanec (Nagyszalánc) land of the muses

The Julia poems are more homogenous concerning of mood and content elements. Here the poet has found his own voice, individual style and poetic forms. The Hussite leader Jiskra occupied the castle from the Losonczys and ruined it. Later through the marriage with Anna Losonczy the Forgáchs acquired the castle, and in the struggle against them, prince György Rákóczi of Transylvania occupied and destroyed the castle as well. But the castle was rebuilt again and again. Finally, during the Kurucz wars the imperial troops had occupied and permanently ruined the castle in 1678. Searching for modern data, the Abaúj-Torna County monograph (1896) informs us: “Nagyszalánc settlement is situated almost entirely in forest. It has 125 houses with 886 Slovak (Tót) and Hungarian inhabitants, a railway station, a post and telegraph office. Neolithic and Bronze Age relics have been found in the mansion park of count István Forgách under the Castle Hill and in the village area. The sights are the mansion of count István Forgách and the castle. The mansion was built by count Zsigmond Forgách in the second half of the 18th century situated in the surrounding park. The ruins of the Szalánc castle rise above the mansion; the preserved and maintained donjon (round-shaped living tower) exhibits the family‘s gallery of paintings. The county monograph (1896) says: “All the estate‘s manors, the mansion of Alsókemence and the hunting lodge in Kerek-hegy (Round Hill) were built by the current owner and are all connected to the Szalánc mansion.