Lietava Castle (, older names , , , ) is an extensive castle ruin in the

Súľov Mountains The Súľov Mountains (in Slovak language, Slovak, ''Súľovské vrchy'') is a rugged mountain range in Slovakia, the northwestern part of the Fatra-Tatra Area of the Inner Western Carpathians. Its highest peak is Veľký Manín, at 890 meters. ...

of northern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, between the villages of Lietava and

Lietavská Svinná-Babkov Lietavská Svinná-Babkov () is a village and municipality in Žilina District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1393. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of 4 ...

in the

Žilina District Žilina District () is an ''okres'' (district) of the Žilina Region in north-western Slovakia. The district was first established in 1923. Its present borders date from 1996. The heart of the district is the Váh and Rajec river valleys. Urbaniza ...

History

The castle was built after 1241, most likely as an administrative and military centre. It occupies a strategic position alongside the

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

, a trade route between Europe and Asia along which

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

and other goods were transported. Members of the Balas family are thought to have constructed a four-storey tower, and this was expanded over the years by successive owners. In the early 14th century, it is mentioned with

Máté Csák III Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection *** Mate choice in humans ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Per ...

, one of the powerful magnates in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. The castle changed hands several times until the 16th century when the

Thurzó family The House of Thurzó (; ) was a Hungarian noble family from the 15th century to the first half of the 17th century. It was in Kraków that the rise of the Thurzó family began, and the family in turn boosted that city into an important center of b ...

gained it. It was reconstructed in the Gothic-Renaissance style and fortified, and given its own military garrison. The weathered remains of this reconstruction are what remains; its past grandeur can be seen in the coats of arms, the renaissance portals, the inscriptions and grand fireplaces. After the death of

Imre Thurzó Count Imre Thurzó de Bethlenfalva (11 September 1598 – 19 October 1621) was a Hungarian aristocrat, son of Palatine György Thurzó, who served as Perpetual Ispán (Count; ''comes'') of Árva County between 1616 and 1621. Count Imre also ...

in 1621, it was divided between his heirs. After the ownership disputes in 1641, they lost interest in it. The castle report in 1698 said that the castle was uninhabited and there was only an archive, which was moved to the

Orava Castle Orava Castle (, ) is a castle situated on a high rock above Orava (river), Orava river in the village of Oravský Podzámok, Slovakia. The castle was built in the Kingdom of Hungary, with the oldest parts being built in the thirteenth century an ...

() in the 1760s. After that, the castle was abandoned and not used any more.

Today

Today the castle is in the hands of the non-profit organisation Združenie na záchranu Lietavského hradu, which takes care of the castle and oversees its conservation. It can be accessed along a blue waymarked trail from the village of Lietava, a walk that takes about thirty minutes. It is one of the most-visited castles in the country.

References

External links

Lietava
a
castles.sk

hradlietava.sk
{{coord, 49, 09, 39, N, 18, 41, 05, E, region:sk_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1241 Castles in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Žilina Region Ruined castles in Slovakia 1241 establishments in Europe