Castles and fortifications in Slovakia
Bratislava Castle
Bratislava Castle has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries and it is the national monument of Slovakia. The castle, like today's city, has been inhabited for thousands of years, because it is strategically located in the center of Europe at a passage between the Carpathians and the Alps and at an important ford used to cross the Danube river. Early History The people of the Boleráz culture were the first k ...
Founded: 9th century AD |
Location:
Bratislava, Slovakia
Devín Castle
Devín Castle is a national cultural monument of Slovakia and one of the oldest fortifications in the country. Owing to its strategic position, the cliff (altitude of 212 meters) at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers was an ideal place for a fort. Its owner could control the important trade route along the Danube as well as one branch of the Amber Road. That is why the site has been settled since the Neolithic ...
Founded: 9th century AD |
Location:
Devín, Slovakia
Nový Zámok
Nový zámok (literally 'New Castle') is a six-floor Renaissance building with four bastions. It was constructed in 1564–1571 as a watch tower during the Ottoman wars. Because of its dominant position, it was also used as the town"s live clock (exact time was announced every quarter of an hour on a trumpet). A permanent exhibition called Anti-Turkish Wars in Slovakia is installed on four ...
Founded: 1564–1571 |
Location:
Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
Nitra Castle
Nitra castle was built in the 11th century on the place of an earlier fort. The core of the castle is St. Emmeram's Cathedral with the Bishop's residence, with several different parts. The oldest surviving part is the Romanesque Church of St. Emmeram from the 11th century. The other two parts of the cathedral are the originally Gothic Upper Church from the 14th century, and the Lower Church from the 17th century. Vazil´s ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Nitra, Slovakia
Banská Bystrica Castle
The Banská Bystrica town castle was once formed by several ancient buildings. Its task was to protect the income proceedings of copper and silver mining for the royal treasury. The town castle was built gradually. The parish church was built as the first structure in the 13th century and fortifications were added to it in the 15th century. Earth ramparts and palisades were later replaced by tall stone walls fortif ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Borsa Castle
Borša Castle was built after the Tatar invasion (13th century) by the king Belo IV. Its history is not known very good, we only know, that castle was owned by many families (Perin, Polonyi, Lorantffy, Rakoczi and others). The most well-known owner was Francis II Rákóczi, the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11. At the end of 16th or the beginning of 17th century was on it ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Borsa, Slovakia
Cerveny Kamen Castle
Červený Kameň Castle was built in the 13th century as part of the chain of the Kingdom of Hungary’s frontier defense castles ranging from Pressburg to Žilina. Although the Fugger family built the massive fortress in the first half of the 16th century on the site of an original royal castle, its history is connected with the Pálffy noble family. This important Hungarian aristocratic family gr ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Častá, Slovakia
Trencín Castle
Trenèín Castle is relatively large renovated castle, towering on a steep limestone cliff directly above the city of Trenèín. It is a dominant feature not only of Trenèín, but also of the entire Považie region. The castle is a national monument. History of the castle cliff dates back to the Roman Empire, what is proved by the inscription on the castle cliff proclaiming the victory of Roman legion against Germans in ...
Founded: 800-900 AD |
Location:
Trenèín, Slovakia
Starý Zámok
Starý zámok (literally Old Castle) is well preserved castle complex built in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was embedded to the church of Our Lady from the 13th century. The first documented mention dates from 1486. The church was damaged by earthquake in 1443 and the reconstruction to the fortress was made between 1495-1515 against the Turkish threat. The last significant restoration on the defense complex ...
Founded: 1495-1515 |
Location:
Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
Kremnica Castle
Kremnica castle comprises a compound of medieval buildings from the 14th through 15th centuries, protected with double fortifications to which town walls are connected. The town walls rank among the best-preserved town fortifications in Slovakia. The Church of St. Catherine, the patron saint of the town, is the dominant sight of the castle area. The church, with the interior in the Neo-Gothic style, is well-known also be ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Kremnica, Slovakia
Zvolen Castle
Zvolen Castle is a medieval well-preserved castle located on a hill near the center of Zvolen. The original seat of the region was above the confluence of Slatina and Hron rivers on a steep cliff in a castle from the 12th century, known today as Pustý hrad (meaning 'Deserted castle'). Its difficult access had consequence in relocation of the seat to the new-built Zvolen castle, which was ordered by Louis I the Great as a ...
Founded: 1360-1382 |
Location:
Zvolen, Slovakia
Halic Castle
The first record of the castle in Halič dates from the year 1450. In the years 1450-51 it belonged to the Jiskras, later to János Hunyady before becoming inhabited by King Matthias Corvinus in 1462. In the first half of the 16th century it was in property of Istvan Losonczy from Lučenec. The castle was reconstructed, without royal permission, by him and was damaged in 1544 during a siege. After the death ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Halič, Slovakia
Bojnice Castle
Bojnice castle is a neo-Romantic castle with some original Gothic and Renaissance elements built in the 12th century. Bojnice Castle is one of the most visited castles in Slovakia, receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and also being a popular filming stage for fantasy and fairy-tale movies. Bojnice Castle was first mentioned in written records in 1113, in a document held at the Zobor Abbey. Originally b ...
Founded: c. 1113 |
Location:
Prievidza, Slovakia
Kezmarok Castle
Kežmarok Castle dates from 1463. It was built for the defence the town on the site of the medieval community of Svätá Alžbeta (St. Elisabeth). The original castle was built in the Gothic style with thick walls and massive bastions. The castle gained its contemporary Renaissance form after extensive rebuilding which proceeded in various stages in the years 1572, 1575, 1583, and 1624. The last phase was comple ...
Founded: 1463 |
Location:
Kezmarok, Slovakia
Smolenice Castle
Smolenice Castle was built in the 15th century, but it was destroyed during Rákóczi's War of Independence and Napoleanic wars. In 1777, Count János Pálffy from Pezinok inherited Smolenice but did not reside in the castle due to its poor condition and lack of money for rebuilding it. The castle was rebuilt in the 20th century by order of Count József Pálffy. The architect Jozef Hubert designed the new castle by using ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Smolenice, Slovakia
Liptovský Hrádok Castle
At the beginning of the 14th century Magister Donč, the head of the Zvolen county, built a Gothic stone castle on a small dolomite rock. The castle was surrounded by a moat which is now only a small romantic lake. In 1341 was the first written record about the castle named Wywar, in later documents it is referred to as Novum Castrum – New Castle, or Hradek. One of its strategic roles was to control the importan ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Liptovský Hrádok, Slovakia
St. Urban Tower
St. Urban Tower is originally a Gothic prismatic campanile with a pyramidal roof. It was erected in the 14th century. A church bell installed in the tower has been dedicated to Saint Urban, the patron of vine-dressers. The bell was cast in a mould by the bell-founder Franciscus Illenfeld of Olomouc in 1557. Its weight is 7 tonnes. In 1775 the pyramidal roof was constructed with annion in the Baroque style with an iron do ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Košice, Slovakia
Pezinok Castle
Pezinok Castle was originally a Gothic castle built at the turn of 13th and 14th centuries by Counts from Svätý Jur and Pezinok. After their death the castle had different owners (baron Krušič, count Illesházy, Pálffy family). In 1875 a lightning caused extensive damage to its nothern part, which fell apart and a new building was built at this place. In 1931 the town purchased the cas ...
Founded: c. 1300 |
Location:
Pezinok, Slovakia
Lubovna Castle
Ľubovňa Castle was built after 1292 by the Hungarian King Andrew III. As a border guard castle, it protected trade routes to Poland. Famous Hungarian and Polish noble families entered its history. The castle was the seat of the Polish trustees from the Spiš region for more than 350 years. Hungarian and Polish Kings and Queens, such as Mary, Sigismund, Vladislav II Jagiełło, John Albrecht, John C ...
Founded: c. 1292 |
Location:
Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia
Hlohovec Castle
The dominant building in the Hlohovec is a Renaissance-Baroque castle built in 1720. The castle is built on the place of a pre-existing Slavic settlement and a medieval castle from the 13th century. In the castle area is the Empire theatre built in 1802, a riding school from the 18th century, and a Baroque garden pavilion.
Founded: 1720 |
Location:
Hlohovec, Slovakia