around 1284 · 1289 Mikuláš builds on the rockMikuláš stavia na skale

The castle above the village is dated to about 1284, and its builder was Mikuláš, the ancestor of the family who became the Máriássys. The village itself first appears in writing in 1289, as Márkusfalva — Marcus's village, after an earlier Marcus in the same family, which is where the Slovak name Markušovce comes from too. What went up on the rock was not a royal fortress but a nobleman's fortified house: a tower and a wall, enough to keep out a raiding party and to say who owned the valley. The family stayed for the better part of seven centuries, which is exceptional even by Hungarian standards.Hrad nad dedinou sa datuje asi do roku 1284 a jeho staviteľom bol Mikuláš, predok rodu, z ktorého sa stali Máriássyovci. Samotná dedina sa v písomnostiach objavuje prvý raz roku 1289 ako Márkusfalva — Markušova dedina, podľa staršieho Markuša z tej istej rodiny, odkiaľ pochádza aj slovenské meno Markušovce. Na skale nevyrástla kráľovská pevnosť, ale opevnené šľachtické sídlo: veža a múr, dosť na to, aby zadržali lúpežnú družinu a aby bolo jasné, komu dolina patrí. Rodina tu zostala takmer sedem storočí, čo je aj na uhorské pomery výnimočné.