Stumpy Tower

Within the limits of Cernatul de Sus/Felsőcsernáton, right above the confluence of the Nagy and the Ika streams, on a steep promontory, there stands the Stumpy Tower of Cernat/Csernáton – better known as Ika’s Castle – as it became more wide-spread thanks to Balázs Orbán, who had connected the story of the castle with the legendary hero, Ika.

Once upon a time, the narrow and rocky peak was crowned by the 200 m long and 10 m wide, prolonged spool-shaped wall, with two inner mass towers to end with, out of which only the ruins of the 13m high one on the southern side have been preserved. The archaeologists of the Sekler National Museum have come to the conclusion that the castle was built somewhere in the 13th -14th century, and as there was no royal estate in the neighborhood; the castle must have been built either on individual or community initiative. It presumably became uninhabited in the early 15th century.

There are many legends attached to the castle. For instance, the millers in the area used to believe that the vaulted cellars were hiding treasures, which were guarded by two angry roosters – a red one and a black one. And the legend went on saying that one of them would always stay awake, and it would crow whenever somebody was approaching, and then the heavy door would instantly snap.