Exposition – Castle

A tall baroque bastion with an entrance gate

Built in the twenties of the 17th century (before 1627) during the mayorship of Stanislav Lubomirský on the site of an older brick gate. It provided access to the castle from the southeast.

In the passage of the Baroque gate, there is an original iron-clad gate, in front of which a drawbridge was placed. Above the gate there are pitch noses into which hot pitch was poured if necessary. In 1746, they called this bastion Bierfas, meaning beer barrel.

A valuable Renaissance portal has been preserved in the passage of the gate. This entrance to the castle was also secured by a trap door. The Renaissance gate lost its mission in the 17th century, when a new Baroque gate (1) was built.

Renaissance tower with a gate - the so-called Boner's Gate

Built after 1553 during the mayorship of Ján Boner by expanding the medieval gate to the lower castle. At present, it can only be entered through a gate for pedestrians, because the larger entrance for wagons and carriages was walled up and turned into a shooting range.

Renaissance bastion (rondel)

The round bastion was built by the inhabitants of Stara Ľubovna in 1528 during the mayorship of Peter Kmita III. by the medieval gate to the lower castle. The Renaissance rebuilding of the castle's fortifications in the second quarter of the 16th century was also motivated by the growing Turkish threat. Originally, there were three large cannon embrasures in the lower part of the roundel.

After the first courtyard was built in the twenties of the 17th century (before 1627), the bastion lost its original defensive function and one of the three embrasures was rebuilt into a gate through which one walked from the first to the second courtyard.

In the past, this room served as a room for the castle captain. The history of Ľubovňa Castle and its most important royal visits are presented on four walls:
– the castle was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Hungarian King Ondrej III. 1311 – the first written mention of the castle. At that time it was owned by Palatine Omodeja Abu.
1317 – the king donated the castle and its surroundings to his faithful follower Filip Drugeth. The Drughet family owned the castle until 1342.
1st half of the 14th century – King Ludovít I the Great elevated the city of Stará Ľubovňa to a free royal city. The image of this king is found in the largest painting in the room, opposite the entrance in the center.
1392 – visit of the Hungarian Queen Maria of Anjou in 1392
1396 – Sigismund of Luxembourg visited the castle for the first time. His picture is on the wall opposite the entrance on the left side.
1412 – Sigismund of Luxemburg and Vladislav II met at the castle. Jagiełło (picture on the wall opposite the entrance on the right) and signed a peace agreement. At the same time, they agreed here that Vladislav would lend Žigmund 37,000 Prague groskies, for which Žigmund gave him 13 Spiš cities and 3 free royal cities. The reserve deed is in a glass case between the two kings.
1494 – the Polish king Ján Albrecht II came to the castle. and stayed here with his entourage for several days

Historical exhibition: Castle of kings and mayors

1553 - mayor Ján Boner took care of the reconstruction of the castle after a big fire. The castle acquired a Renaissance appearance.
1591 - the castle is in the hands of the Polish noble family Lubomirski. Pictures of the family members are on the wall to the right next to the entrance. The family owned the castle until 1745.
1642 - 1647 - a baroque chapel, a baroque palace and several other works were built on the castle. The construction was initiated by Stanislav Lubomirski.
1655 - Juraj Sebastian Lubomirski hid the Polish crown jewels in the castle. They were here until 1661. Then they were taken to Krakow to Wawel Castle.
1656 - the Polish king John II visited the castle. Kazimír, who was returning from exile to his native land - Poland.
1683 - the castle witnessed an important visit in 1683, when the winner of the battle near Vienna - Ján III. Sobieski. The Polish king stayed at the castle for only a few days, but he also managed to write a few letters to his beloved wife Mária Kazimíra.
End of the 18th century - the castle falls into the hands of the Polish king August III, who donated it to his wife Maria Jozef of Habsburg. The image of the queen is located on the upper part of the wall, next to the entrance.
1768 - adventurer and traveler Móric Beňovský was imprisoned in the castle.
1769 - the territory of the reserve comes back under the administration of the Hungarian crown. In 1772, Queen Mária Terézia annexed it to the territory of Hungary by law. Her period image is located directly above the door.
1825 - the Hungarian nobleman Juraj Félix Raisz bought the castle.
1882 - 1944 - the castle was in the hands of the Polish noble family Zamoyski

Baroque palace - lower floor

The Baroque palace was built in 1642 thanks to the then mayor Stanislav Lubomírsky. His portrait is placed in the first room. There is a commemorative plaque from 1642 on the staircase.

In the lapidary, there are commemorative plaques documenting the rebuilding of the castle associated with the Lubomír family. The last three rooms on the lower floor are dedicated to the palace’s purpose-built spaces from the 19th century: the kitchen, oven loaders and storage.

In 1617, cannons were named here: dragon, cat, bagpipe, falcon. Along the perimeter, there are vents, or shafts that ensured the ventilation of underground passages – casemates. It is the only preserved bastion of this type in Slovakia (the so-called ear bastion).

Western Renaissance bastion / casemates - underground passages

Built after 1544 (it was already standing in 1553) during the mayorship of Peter Kmita III. according to the projects of the Italian builder Anton. He ensured the defense of the castle from the most vulnerable southwestern side. There were 8 gun emplacements each in its upper and lower parts. The western bastion with its 16 embrasures formed a pillar of the castle's defense.

Late Gothic gate

From the 15th century, it formed the entrance to the upper castle. A portal from it has been preserved - the so-called donkey's back. It was rebuilt in the Renaissance in the 16th century. Its first gate was iron, the second was oak. Currently, there is a carriage house.

The other two rooms are dedicated to the first private owners of the castle, the Raisz family, who owned the castle in the years 1825 – 1880. There is a preserved dry toilet near the staircase, which had its own shaft outside the walls. The last two rooms focus on the Zamoyski family, who used the castle mainly for representational purposes.

Baroque palace - upper floor

The upper floor of the Baroque palace mainly documents the 19th and 20th centuries. Hunting salon records the hobby of nobles in the past. The second kitchen is also called the "black kitchen," due to its natural blackness. In the center of the kitchen was a hearth, above which there was a chimney. Due to the lack of windows, there was insufficient ventilation in the room. In a short time, the walls became ugly.

Baroque chapel

Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel was built in 1647, which is documented by the text of the oval tablet above the entrance to the chapel. In front of it is a cemetery where the owners of the castle - Juraj Félix Raisz and Apolónia Raisz - are also buried. Three baroque altars and a baptistery have been preserved from the chapel's earlier equipment.

From the palace, it was possible to go to the upper part of the tower from the level of the third floor. In 1746, this castle building was called the treasury.

Gothic palace

In the center of the old castle are the ruins of a Gothic palace, built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries or during the 14th century. After the fire of 1553, it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. Three vaulted cellars carved into the rock after 1553 were preserved in the basement of the palace, there were storage areas on the ground floor, a hall with large windows on the first floor and rooms in the attic.

Gothic tower - bergfried (don't be afraid)

Built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries or during the 14th century. Later, three supporting pillars were attached to it. The ground floor served as an ammunition warehouse. Above it was another warehouse, which was entered from the first floor of the Gothic palace.

On the second floor was the prison, which was also recognized by the famous adventurer Móric Beňovský in 1768. There was a warehouse on the third floor, a gunpowder store on the fourth, a room with two cannons on the fifth, and a trumpeter’s room (currently a viewing room) on the sixth. From the tower there is a nice view of the Tatras and the Three Crowns in Pieniny.

In the lower part, they cut a brewery in the rock, above it there was a bakery, above the bakery there was a kitchen and warehouses. In the highest part, the representative hall and living rooms. Currently, there is an exhibition about the construction of the castle in the upper part, and an exposition of distillery and brewing in the lower part.

Renaissance palace

It was built on the site of a medieval kitchen after 1553 according to the projects of the builder Ján Frankenstein.

Castle well

Excavated in the Middle Ages. It has been mentioned in written sources since the 16th century, when a bakery stood in its neighborhood (1553). From the middle of the 16th century, it was not the only source of water. After 1553, a water supply was built at the castle. Water was supplied through wooden pipes from the opposite hill.

Replicas of Polish crown jewels

In the 17th century, soldiers were housed in the space under the chapel. The original furnace has been preserved here to this day. In the center of the room are presented replicas of the Polish crown jewels, which were kept in the castle between 1655 and 1661.

High bastion - Zamoysky exposition

In the 18th century, the upper part of the bastion was inhabited by the governor - the administrator of the reserve territory. Currently, there is an exhibition dedicated to the last private owners of the castle from 1882-1945 - the noble Zamoy family. It contains original collections from the end of the 19th century, but mostly from the times when Count Ján Zamoyský and the Spanish princess Izabela de Bourbon worked here.

Castle: 052/43 220 30 | Open-air museum: 052/43 239 82 | Museum: 052/43 224 22

Zámocká 22, 064 01 Stará Ľubovňa

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