I always enjoy coming back to Slovakia for a few weeks. This time, we came after the New Year's Eve and we will be staying for another couple of weeks. We are both able to work from home, so it doesn't really matter where we are and I get to spend some time with my mom's dog as well (priorities 🙂).
I have a big family and some of my aunts and uncles live in different parts of (mainly) Eastern Slovakia. We visit them from time to time too. One of my aunts lost her husband at the end of last year, so we wanted to spend some time with her and cheer her up. She usually spends time at home and was happy to hear that we planned a trip for her. We took her, my mom and my sister to Stará Ľubovňa Castle. We had a blast!
It was not our first visit of this castle but as it underwent a reconstruction since we visited it last time it was a great opportunity for us to see how it looks now. Honestly, I don't remember much from our last visit anyway.
It's been raining since the day we arrived in Slovakia and we were so lucky with the weather during our trip. It was the only sunny day and we enjoyed some spring weather in January.
It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the castle from my home town. It's only about 130 km but the roads are so bad and holes so deep that at some points we had to check if we didn't lose a wheel! 🙂
The castle is situated on top of a hill above the river Poprad, and it's visible from afar. The parking is less than 1 km walk from the castle. On the way, you can visit the open air museum but it was closed as we came during the public holidays (6th of Jan is a public holiday in Slovakia). It's not a difficult walk but could get challenging for the elderly as it's quite steep at some places.
We could see that the facade was repaired and the castle looked well maintained. In the last years, there are many castles in Slovakia being reconstructed and I can't wait to visit more of them to see the progress!
On the way up, you can enjoy the castle in its full glory.
Both my mom and my aunt were not so thrilled to walk up the hill but they managed at the end! Of course, they didn't forget to complain that I walk too fast. They didn't get that I had to be there first to take pictures 🙂
Finally, we can see the entrance of the castle! I haven't seen my mom so happy in a long time!
I love castles and couldn't contain my excitement. The ticket office is on the right side behind the gate. You can also buy small souvenirs and books about Stará Ľubovňa Castle as well as the region. The standard ticket price is 10 EUR but as the reconstruction is still ongoing and we were not able to visit all places we had a reduced price of 5 EUR per person. What a bargain!
Let's start the tour!
There is not much information about the castle available at the ticket office and there is no audio guide either. We only received a paper with numbers to be able to follow the tour. At each number there is a sign with more information, so you can learn interesting details about the castle and its history.
Slovakia used to be part of the Hungarian empire and Stará Ľubovňa Castle was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to protect its borders with Poland. The first written mention of the castle goes back to 1311.
Later in the 15th century it was pledged to Polish Kings and became the Seat of Polish Mayors. The castle was rebuilt in the renaissance style after fire in 1553 and returned to Hungary. Unfortunately, it was left in decay for centuries until it was reconstructed in the 20th century and opened as a museum to public. Link
In the courtyard, there is a map with the location of the castle. Stará Ľubovňa as well as my hometown are part of the region of Prešov - the region bordering Poland in the north and Ukraine in the east.
The oldest part of the castle are the Tower and the Gothic Palace. They are standing on the highest point of the castle surrounded by protective walls. Together they form the upper castle with a courtyard. We were not able to visit the tower due to the reconstruction.
Here we can see the part of the palace which was built later. We will visit the interior in a bit...
A legend has it that the castle was built when tired horse riders stopped near the river of Poprad. They were led by an old nobleman called Mr. Ľubovenský. He fell in love with surrounding landscape and decided to build a castle on the top of a hill.
His sons together with his helpers started with the construction the next day, however in the morning after everything disappeared. And this was happening day after day until they discovered that the place where they were trying to build the castle belonged to an evil witch. Mr. Ľubovenský asked her for a permission to build the castle and she agreed under a condition that he will sell her his soul.
It was a difficult decision but he wanted to leave the castle to his sons, so agreed to the horrible condition. The next day, the castle was standing in all its glory but he lost his soul and went to a nearby monastery to confess to his sin. The witch learned of his betrayal and tried to destroy the castle. She threw a huge rock towards the castle when an evening bell of the monastery rang and she lost her power. The rock fell in the river and Mr. Ľubovenský lived long and happy life with his sons on the castle.
Nobody has every heard of the witch but the huge rock is visible in the river to this day! Legend
The tour takes around 2 hours but I could have stayed all day. The castle is so diverse and offers some activity for everyone. There are various exhibitions all year long and you can also enjoy theme events during holidays. There is a game room for kids too, so that parents can enjoy their time as well. And when you come in summer you can enjoy wine tasting and local beer in the basement too!
We couldn't climb the old tower but nobody could stop us from climbing this small one with its steep and narrow ladder to enjoy the views of High Tatras.
The castle is picturesque and I could almost feel like a royal exploring its secrets..
Sunset gave the tower a magical touch..
In the summer of 2018, there was an archaeological research which discovered these graves.
These are graves of small children but it is not known to which family they belonged and why they died at such early age. It is possible that skeletons belong to royal families as there were many royal visits of the castle.
This is one of the most impressive castles that we visited and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed architecture and history. Even if you don't, you should visit it as it's a good workout to enter all its parts.
We have spent some time in the exterior, so let's visit its interior as well. As I mentioned before, we were not able to visit all rooms in the palace but there were still some impressive rooms to see.
When you enter the castle, you will enter a construction with chronological events in the history of the castle. You will see the old founding stones as well - no touching! 🙂
This is the Polish King Jan III. Sobieski who visited Stará Ľubovňa in 1683.
Žigmund Luxemburský (Sigismund of Luxembourg) had an important role in the history of the castle. He was the ruler of Hungarian empire who signed the agreement on peace and tranquility with Polish king Vladislav II. Jagello at the castle in 1412. My history classes are finally paying off 🙂
Let's look at how the high society used to live...
Dinner anyone?
Or maybe some tea?
Stylish working furniture with a gramophone to use during breaks (just my interpretation)
Guests of the castle were admitted in the main salon with beautiful piano and views of the surrounding hills and mountains. I have no idea what these black triangles are. We couldn't figure that out.
Looks like a great place to read a book..
Pompous furniture of the small salon..
We can also combine tea with some alcohol 🙂
Another room with a table dressed for the supper - it looks like they were only eating and drinking!
A festive attire of a young lady..
The most important part of every castle - the kitchen!
I wonder if they really had chili at that time..
Less glamour, more practicality..
Do you think this is a bell from the monastery from our legend?
I wouldn't mind to have such views from my living room..
This is a replica of the Polish crown jewels which were hidden at the castle in the 17th century.
I've been talking about the views but I haven't shown them to you yet, so here you go - ENJOY!
This is what happens when my husband enters a torture room. It took us ages to do the setting! He took off his jacket to fit in there, and then he was cold but as he claims it was worth it! We had a lot of fun but I wouldn't like to experience it some centuries ago.
There is a long staircase leading to the basement with no windows, thick walls and high humidity. You can try various forms of torture - some of them are quite scary. I can imagine that the screams of tortured people were heard all over the courtyard to scare others.
On the other hand, I preferred the sunny courtyard..
We loved the castle and will come back after the reconstruction is finished to check out the places that we couldn't visit.
Thank you for reading!
Cheers!
Martina