Southern Fortification and Maiden Tower

One can find some cracks in the Devín castle rock in which narrow karst and pseudokarst caverns have been developed. The longest one (12m) is the so-called tunnel cavern with the maximum height of the crack 8.8m. It is running across the rock massif and its entrance is ended with a Gothic portal with the pointed arch.

In the 16th century, the Báthory family built the wall with two towers on the southern and south-western part of the rock which crossed a part of the bank road under the rock. The wall, originally ended with crenelation, began at the Danube river with a tower, which does not exist anymore, and was steeply ascending to the castle rock. It also included a small watchtower on the top of the slender rock spur above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers. The diameter of the octagonal brick building ended with crenelation is 2.8m and its height is 4.88m. It was accessed through a narrow entrance; slit windows were used for watching. The tower is also called Nun or the Maiden Tower.

As a legend says, Mikuláš, the lord of the Devín castle, hijacked beautiful Margaret of Carinthia and wanted to marry her. However, her family with the army used a trick to enter the castle, so Mikuláš with the bride refuged in the small tower. Mikuláš was killed in the unequal match and miserable Margaret jumped into the Danube river.