THIS POSTCARD, from Plavecké Podhradie in 1927, can serve as an illustrative example of a historical story which touches several places simultaneously. It is a story of the country’s human settlement.
The dominant hill in the background was settled first. Its name is Roštún, or Pohanská. The second name, especially, tells us a lot about the history of this very picturesque region in the Small Carpathians. Pohanská (The Pagan) was settled long ago, in pre-Christian times. Celts built a vast fortified settlement on its peak – an oppidum – which ranks among the biggest in Slovakia by surface area.
In the Middle Ages, a fortified castle was built on the neighbouring, lower hill on the left, which became the site of the Plavecké dominion that comprised a considerable part of Záhorie.
This situation changed in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the hill-top fortifications ceased having a protective value and the nobility started to build more comfortable and functional mansions under the castle. The mansion on this postcard was ordered by the new owners of the domain, the Pálffy family, probably some time after 1632. Later, the mansion lost its importance as the squires moved to still more comfortable spaces in nearby Malacky.
In 1918, the mansion in Plavecké Podhradie fell into the hands of the state and since 1974 it has been used to house state archives. In the past, the construction was surrounded by a spacious park, the remainder of which can be seen in this postcard. Today, its vicinity is covered with buildings.
