The castle climbs up and into the mountain on three levels, directly into living rock

The Arva Castle (Oravsky Hrad) was built sometime before 1254 during the reign of King Béla IV (1235-1270) as part of the king’s plan to build stone castles after the Mongol invasion. Built into a limestone crag in the valley of the River Arva, it controlled the roads from Hungary towards Cracow. Site of the old vampire film Nosferatu (and did we glimpse it in a preview of the upcoming Dragonheart II?), Arva Castle looks like the perfect setting for an encounter with Dracula or some such nefarious creature. The day of our visit was very stormy with thunder, lightning and rain--the perfect atmosphere!

Paul Knoll enters the castle through the tunnel in the mountain	Oleg: “I can see my house from here” on the steps of Arva Castle. Lijana, Robert, Oleg, Jay, Levan, Els, Iryna, Pavel, Sasha	Irina gets into the action as these players portray a comic scene from medieval court life in a courtyard at Arva. At the end of their routine, they rushed us with swords drawn, ready to chop off our heads.
Oleg pauses before a carved wooden door in Arva’s interior	That’s not a magic wand in Olga’s hand, it’s the handle of an umbrella--required on such a stormy day	The nobleman depicted here, Comes Nicolaus Draskovics, has a dragon-like left hand, which apparently meant he was not a good man nor well-liked by those he ruled
Maureen and Iryna enjoy the view from Arva Castle’s top tower	Pavel, Jane and Olga admire the view of the beautiful lush green countryside from the top of Arva castle

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