Vitajte na Slovensku, Bízunk benne, hogy Magyarországra látogat!

We continue our visit to the Eastern European Countries and depart from Bratislava, the Capital City of Slovakia. The airport M.R. Stefanik (LZIB) lies east of the city and we cross the city to see the [Stadium] and the [Kamzik Tower]. Our first castle is [Bratislava Castle].

The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube River in the middle of Bratislava. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries.

The location provides excellent views of Bratislava, Austria, and, in clear weather, parts of Hungary.

The castle building includes four towers (one on each corner) and a courtyard with an 80 m (260 ft) deep water well. The largest and tallest tower is the Crown Tower on the southwest corner. The 47 m (154 ft) tower dates from the 13th century and for approximately 200 years beginning in the mid-1500s housed the crown jewels of Hungary. The exterior walls and inside corridors contain fragments of old Gothic and Renaissance construction elements. The walled-up entrance gate from the 16th century is still visible to the east of the main hall/entrance.

In 1802 the castle was assigned to the military as barracks. This was the beginning of the end of the castle. The rococo interiors of the castle were adapted to house some 1500 soldiers. In 1809, the Pressburg and the castle were bombarded by cannons by Napoleon's troops. On 28 May 1811, the castle burst into huge flames due to the carelessness of garrison soldiers. The fire even spread into parts of the town.

The destroyed castle gradually deteriorated. The military sold parts of the main castle buildings as construction materials in the surrounding areas. Between the two world wars, attempts were made to demolish the castle to build government offices and a university district on the castle hill and in its surroundings. Many parts of the site however continued to be used as barracks and adapted accordingly until 1946. In 1946, the ruin was opened to the public. Finally, it was decided to restore the castle. The finishing of the restoration in 1968 was interrupted in August 1968, when the castle was occupied by Warsaw Pact troops. On 28 October 1968, however, the Federation Law, turning the centralist state of Czechoslovakia into a federation of a Czech Socialist Republic (later called the Czech Republic) and a Slovak Socialist Republic (later called the Slovak Republic), was signed in the Federation Hall of the castle. On 3 September 1992, the new constitution of independent Slovakia was signed in the Knights Hall of the castle.

We cross the river Danube into Hungary and head southeast. We make a short stop at Lipót (LHLI) and continue to Győr-Pér (LHPR). The airport of Győr-Pér sees only charter traffic and business planes.

On the way, we pass the [Pannonhalma Archabbey]. It was founded as the first Hungarian Benedictine monastery in 996 by Prince Géza, who designated this as a place for the monks to settle, and then it soon became the center of the Benedictine order. The monastery was built in honor of Saint Martin of Tours.

The oldest surviving document to use the Hungarian language, the Charter of the Tihany Benedictine Abbey, dating back to 1055, is still preserved in the library.

The monastery became an archabbey in 1541, and as a result of Ottoman incursions into Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was fortified. During one and a half centuries of the occupation of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire, the monks had to abandon the abbey for varying amounts of time. Only later were they able to start the reconstruction of the damaged buildings. During the time of Archabbot Benedek Sajghó (1722-1768), a major baroque construction was in progress in the monastery.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, rich Baroque adornments and extensions were added to the complex, and much of its current facade dates from this time. It received its present form in 1832, with the library and the tower, which was built in classicist style.

After 1945, Hungary became a communist state, and in 1950, the properties of the Order and the schools run by the Benedictines were confiscated by the state, not to be returned until after the end of communism in Hungary. In 1995, one year before the millennium, the complex was entirely reconstructed and renovated. In 1996, "The Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment" was elected among the World Heritage sites.

We depart Győr-Pér and return to the river Danube to inspect the [Monostori Bridge] and turn southeast again.

At Lake Öreg we overfly [Tata Castle], a medieval castle that was renovated to reflect the Romanian style. It houses an important museum.

We land at Estergom Airfield (LHEM).

Our next POI is [Esztergom Basilika], situated directly at the river Danube. It is the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary and was dedicated to the Assumption of Saint Mary and Saint Adalbert. It is the largest church in Hungary. Its inner area is 5,600 m². It is 118 m long and 49 m wide. It has a reverberation time of more than 9 seconds. Its dome, forming a semi-sphere, is situated in the middle, and it has 12 windows. It is 71.5 m high inside (which makes it one of the tallest domes in the world), with a diameter of 33.5 meters, and is 100 m high from outside, the stairs count 400 steps counted from the crypt.

The altarpiece (13.5 × 6.6 meters, depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Girolamo Michelangelo Grigoletti) is the largest painting in the world painted on a single piece of canvas.

The basilica is also known as Bakócz Chapel (named after Tamás Bakócz), built by Italian masters between 1506–1507 out of red marble of Süttő, its walls adorned with Tuscan Renaissance motifs. It is the most precious remaining example of Renaissance art in Hungary.

The huge crypt, built in Old Egyptian style in 1831, is today the resting place of late archbishops, among others, József Mindszenty, famous for his opposition to both word not allowed and Communist rule.

10 miles east, also at the river Danube, is [Visegrád Citadel]. It consists of an Upper and a Lower Castle.  After the Mongol invasion, King Béla IV of Hungary and his wife had a new fortification system constructed in the 1240s and 1250s near the one destroyed earlier. The first part of the new system was the Upper Castle on top of a high hill. The castle was laid out on a triangular ground plan and had three towers at its corners. In the 14th century, at the time of the Angevin kings of Hungary, the castle became a royal residence and was enlarged with a new curtain wall and palace buildings.

The Upper Castle also served for the safekeeping of the Hungarian royal insignia between the 14th century and 1526. In 1544 Visegrád was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, and, apart from a short period in 1595–1605, it remained in Turkish hands until 1685. The castle was seriously damaged by the Turks and was never used afterward.

The Lower Castle is part of the fortification system that connects the Upper Castle with the Danube. In its center rises the Solomon Tower, a large, hexagonal residential tower dating from the 13th century. In the 14th century, new curtain walls were built around the tower. During a Turkish raid in 1544, the southern part of the tower collapsed. Its renovation began only in the 1870s and was finished in the 1960s.

We continue east and land at Bátonyterenye (LHMA).

About 10 miles north is [Šomoška Castle] in Slovakia. It is a hill castle directly at the border between the Slovak Republic and Hungary. The castle was built at the end of the 13th century as one of several new fortifications of the Kingdom of Hungary after the devastating Mongol invasion in 1241. After an eventful history, the castle burned down in 1826 after a lightning strike; since then it was essentially only a source of building materials for the local residents. According to the Treaty of Trianon, the castle became part of Czechoslovakia, but the area remained disputed with the municipalities of Somoskő and Somoskőújfalu. In 1924 the two villages rejoined Hungary, but the castle with its basalt quarry remained with Czechoslovakia (or today Slovakia). Only in the years 1938-45, after the First Vienna Arbitration, the castle briefly belonged to Hungary again. The castle complex was partially renovated only in the 1970s.

We land at Lučenec (LZLU).

We head northwest and reach Kalvária (Banská Štiavnica), a [Calvary Sanctuary]. It is a complex of churches and chapels which was built in the eighteenth century by the Jesuits. The town was once Hungary’s third-largest town and a center of mining.

We continue and land at Sliac (LZSL).

Further north we overfly [Strečno Castle]. It is a reconstructed ruin of a medieval castle of an irregular plan. The castle stands on a 103-metre-high (338 ft) calcite cliff above the international road E50 and the village of Strečno. Along with the Old Castle, it constitutes a significant landscape landmark of the Upper Váh region. The first recorded mention of the stone castle is from 1316. Today the castle belongs to the national cultural heritage of the Slovak Republic.

About 20 miles to the east is [Orava Castle]. It stands on the site of an old wooden fortification, built after the Mongol invasion of Hungary of 1241. Its history follows a familiar pattern of construction, destruction, reconstruction, fire, various ownerships, and territorial squabbles. The original design was in Romanesque and Gothic style; it was later reconstructed as a Renaissance and Neo-Gothic structure, hugging the shape of the 520-meter spur on which it perches.

The mining magnate Thurzo family was responsible for a great deal of rebuilding work, although its present form was not finalized until 1611. It burned down again in 1800, after which it was no longer used as a residence. After a period of dilapidation dating until World War II, the castle became a national monument.  Many scenes of the 1922 film Nosferatu were filmed here, the castle representing Count Orlok's Transylvanian castle.

We turn south again and land at Ružomberok (LZRU).

After a flight of about 50 miles over the low Tatra mountains, the next two POI are close together. First, we see [Betliar Manor House]. The manor house was built on the site of a small castle of the 15th century. It is situated in an English-style park. The mansion has been rebuilt many times, most recently by the Hungarian Andrássy family in the year 1880. Since that time its appearance has been preserved with minor changes and renovations; currently, it serves as an exposition of the Slovak National Museum.

The second one, only 5 miles away, is [Krásna Hôrka Castle].  The first recorded mention of the castle was in 1333. In 1961 Krásna Hôrka was designated a National Cultural Monument of the Slovak Republic. It was said to be one of the country's best-preserved castles. On 10 March 2012, the castle was extensively damaged by fire, due to some teens carelessly discarding a cigarette which set the grass on fire.

12 miles east is our next POI, [Fuezer Vara Castle], Hungary. The castle was built around the year 1250 and was destroyed in 1652. It is constantly secured to allow the public to enter the ruins.

We land at Košice (LZKZ).

We head northwest and reach our last POI, [Spiš Castle]. These ruins form one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1993 (together with the adjacent locations of Spišská Kapitula and Žehra). This is one of the biggest European castles by area (41,426 m²). The last owners of the Spiš Castle, the Csáky family, abandoned the castle in the early eighteenth century because they considered it too uncomfortable to live in.

In 1780, the castle was destroyed in a fire. The cause of the blaze is unknown, but there are a few theories. One is that the Csáky family purposefully burned it down to reduce taxes as at the time additional taxes applied to roofed buildings. Another is that it was struck by lightning, which started the fire. A third is that some soldiers in the castle were making moonshine and in the process accidentally started the fire. Whatever the case, after the fire, the castle was no longer occupied and began to fall into disrepair.

The castle was partly reconstructed in the second half of the twentieth century, and extensive archaeological research was carried out on the site.

All information was taken from Wikipedia and other open sources.

We finish this flight at Tatry (LZTT). 

 

The flight plans are available here.

The flight has 435 miles and 8 landings. We want to cruise about 180 knots. I will be in the C414, please fly what you like.

 There are two freeware add-ons available:

https://flightsim.to/file/3186/lzib-bratislava-m-r-stefanik-airport

https://flightsim.to/file/817/lhpr-gyor-per-airport

LZTT is an improved airport of the Eastern Europe update. If you own the payware, you may what to check the airport, I had some mesh issues there.

 

Recommended Departure time is 1:00PM local

Particulars:

•           Date and time: Wednesday August 2, 18:00 UTC
•           https://discord.gg/cgNm9Fh3
•           MFS Multiplayer: US Eastcoast Server

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

I don't do multiplayer but I am impressed by all your planning and historical background. Very interesting. A lovely part of the world I would love to live in. 👌 👍

There was an update to the Eastern Europe POI today. I couldn't find a patch note. Does anybody know what was changed?

Thanks.