The Fate of the Castle in Modern History
The downfall of the castle began gradually at the beginning of the 18th century The center of the estate of the then owners, the Pálffy family, was at that time the castle Červený Kameň. The Pálffys built a more comfortable and well accessible mansion for the protection of the Plaveč estate in Plavecké Podhradie. The castle, damaged by battles, remained deserted and gradually, time took its toll on it. In the course of the years, first, the roofs decayed and later, the walls of the castle buildings began to give way.
At the end of the 19th century, the ruin was in a rather good state, only the inner walls of the castle and agricultural buildings, as well as parts of the tower at the top of the rock were destroyed. This state is well documented by drawings and photographs from the period from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Sadly, the approaching century brought about great losses. First, almost all of the southern housing tower collapsed and at the end of the 20th century a similar fate struck the tower on the top of the rock, when almost all of its western wall collapsed. The gradually continuing process of destruction is today seen in the critical damage of the castle gate and the remains of the corner of the eastern tower, the last remaining wall of the castle palace.
After years of decay and lack of interest, however, the castle finally became the focus of activities aimed at its preservation. In terms of the project Disenchanting Castles, implemented via the Foundation fund of Západoslovenská energetika and the Pontis Foundation, the 91st scout troop from Bratislava took the ruin under its patronage and so far, removed surface vegetation and restored paths in the area. Removing bushes that endanger the brickwork is the first and most important step on the long road to its preservation. scout troop from Bratislava took the ruin under its patronage and so far, removed surface vegetation and restored paths in the area. Removing bushes that endanger the brickwork is the first and most important step on the long road to its preservation. In April 2012, Milan Kousal and Pascal Ergo met for the first time at the castle. Their wish to safe the castle and their views for the future were so similar that they decided to join forces. The very next year, they started the renovation of the Renaissance Southern gate. This first project gave them a lot of experience and motivation to collect even more information in order to prepare future projects. In December 2013, they founded the non-for-profit civil association ‘Plavecky Hrad o.z.’ which will coordinate the future projects and collect donations. Since then, year after year, new parts of our majestic castle are being saved from dilapidation; and more visitors can enjoy an escape to the past.
