Spis Castle landslide

Spis Castle, a monument included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list (Eastern Slovakia) is built on a travertine mound overlying soft Paleogene rocks. Lateral spreading resulting from the subsidence of strong upper travertine into soft claystone strata has fractured and separated the castle rock into several cliffs. The differential movement of individual cliff faces is the primary influence on the stability of the monument. In 1985 minor repair and reconstruction including some stabilization efforts (removal of vegetation from the natural rockface, removal of rock debris, grouting, etc.) was stated without an engineering geological investigation. In 1991 cracks in the Palace were reported and were believed to be attributable to slope movements. Consequently, the Institute for Monuments Preservation together with the Ministry of the Environment approached the Department of Engineering Geology (Comenius University Bratislava) and the Department of Geotechnics (Slovak Technical University Bratislava) to make a reconnaissance study of the castle. Subsequently it was confirmed that slope failures present a danger not only to the palace but also to the defense walls at the lower courtyard and near the entrance. This report referred the research in the paper : Jan Vlcko (2004) Extremely slow slope movements influencing the stability of Spis Castle, UNESCO site. Landslides (2004) 1:67–71