The small tourist stop at the base of a steep
hill atop which sits remains of a castle and its fortifications,
Devinsky Hrad. At this point the Danube, which for some miles had marked
the border between Austria and Slovakia, bends away to the left while
the Slovakian border bends to the right. Now we were totally within
Austria for the remainder of our day’s cruise to Vienna.
Wikipedia: “The site
has been settled since the Neolithic Age and fortified since the Bronze
and Iron Age and later by Celts and Romans.
”The cliff
(elevation 212 meters) is an ideal place for a fort due to its position
at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers. The fort watches over
an important trade route along the Danube as well as one branch of the
Amber
Road.
“The castle
stands just inside Slovak territory on the frontier between Slovakia and
Austria. The border runs from west to east along the Morava River and
subsequently the Danube. Prior to 1989, the Iron Curtain between the
Eastern Bloc and the West ran just in front of the castle. Although the
castle was open to the public, the area surrounding it constituted a
restricted military zone, and was heavily fortified with watchtowers and
barbed wire. After the Velvet Revolution the area was demilitarised.
“The most
photographed part of the castle is the tiny watchtower, known as the
Maiden Tower. Separated from the main castle, it balances perilously on
a lone rock and has spawned countless legends concerning imprisoned
lovelorn daughters leaping to their deaths.”
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