Burian Tower

Burian's Tower is located on Horný Val Street, just next to the tower of the parish church. Its fate is connected with the name of the owner of Strečno Castle between 1526 and 1529, Burian Svetlovský of Vlčnov, who was also the hereditary richtár of Žilina at that time. From 1529, the Kostkov brothers - Peter and Mikuláš - became the owners of Strečno Castle. Burian Svetlovský began to sue for his property. The construction of Burian's tower therefore dates back to a period of about three years. However, it cannot be ruled out that it was completed only by the Podmanick brothers - Jan and Rafael, who in 1540 and 1548 twice occupied the parish church and rebuilt it into a fortress. Next to the tower, a wall more than 18 metres long was found, which led to the parish steps and was 80 centimetres thick and only 70 centimetres deep. The shape and direction of the wall were irregular, as if it had been built very hastily. This is also evidenced by the discovery of a large stone ball near the outer wall of the retaining pillar of the older church, discovered in 2000-2001 to the south of the sanctuary of the Gothic Holy Trinity Church. Burian's tower served as a bell tower and was also an observation post, as protection against fires and the arrival of enemies. Its fate is linked to the fate of the church and therefore several church fires also affected the tower itself. In particular, the roofs of the towers were often changed. Between 1762 and 1848 they had a baroque onion shape. Between 1869 and 1886 they had a simple shape of a spire, similarly to the tower of Budatín Castle. After the last fire, they were given the so-called helmet form. It was originally called the New Tower and from the end of the nineteenth century Burian's Tower, probably after the large, 2336 kilograms heavy bell. In 1917 it was melted down and used for military purposes, along with two other bells. In 1923 they were replaced by six new bells. The last rebuilding in 1941 gave the tower an observation deck. The original bells on Burian's tower were replaced by three bells in 1852 as a result of a fire in 1848. The largest "Burian" weighed 2336 kilograms and had two paintings on it - the Holy Cross and St. George. The bell was donated to the town by Juraj Tvrdý and his sister Alžbeta. The middle bell "Median" weighing 655 kilograms had the image of St. Stephen and the inscription "God avert plague, famine, war and fire from the natives! Hard George 1852." The third smallest bell with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary was donated by Juraj Kemka and his wife Maria, born Tvrdý in 1852, it weighed only 25 kilograms and was used for ringing at funerals, so it was called "Umieračik" or "Kemkovec" after the name of the donor. All the bells were taken by the military and subsequently used for the production of weapons and ammunition. The bells, which were made of so-called bell bronze, were composed of approximately 78 percent copper and 22 percent tin, and thus were also suitable as material for military purposes. Therefore, after the war, already in 1921, the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church started a collection for new bells for the tower. The collection itself was authorized on the first of November 1922 and lasted for three whole years. In total, the bells cost 350,000 Czech crowns. They were made by Richard Herold's company in Chomutov, Czech Republic. The company cast 6 bells. The bells were brought to Žilina to the railway station on the fifteenth of August 1923. There was already a large crowd of people waiting for their arrival. They were transported on wagons pulled by a four-horse team of oxen. On the way from the station there were several decorated ceremonial gates, the first one was on today's Hlinka Square, another one between the Franciscan monastery and the Slovak Bank. Then the bells were taken across Sládkovičov Street, where there was another bell tower, to the square where the grandstand stood. Here the bells were blessed by the Bishop of Nitra Karol Kmet'ek and the parish priest of Ružomberok, Andrej Hlinka. Then the procession passed through Štúrova Street with the ceremonial gate to Horný val, where the last ceremonial gate was at Makovický's house, and finally they went directly to Burian's tower, where the bells were pulled out one by one and installed on the previously prepared places and beams. Holy Mass was celebrated throughout the installation.