The sturdy Devín Castle, in vicinity of Bratislava, guarded Great Moravia against attacks from the West. Although some authors claim that it was built only later as a stronghold of the Kings of Hungary, excavations have unearthed an older Slavic fortified settlement founded in the 8th century. During the Great Moravian period, Devín Castle was a seat of a local lord, whose retainers were buried around a stone Christian church. These two castles were reinforced by smaller fortifications in Devínska Nová Ves, Svätý Jur, and elsewhere. Another example is the fortress at Thunau am Kamp near Gars am Kamp, overlooking the river Kamp in Lower Austria. The defences here re-utilised banked defences of the Bronze Age and were only slightly smaller (fifty acres) than the area of the contemporary Frankish Emperor's capital of Regensburg.