Bytča Castle

Bytča, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Bytča Castle in Bytča, Slovakia, began as a 13th-century water castle built by Pongrác Szentmiklósi and was rebuilt between 1571 and 1574 in Renaissance style by Ferenc Thurzó with Italian architect Ján Kilian of Milan overseeing construction. The massive square structure features a central courtyard with arcades decorated by murals of biblical and historical figures, round corner bastions, and a six-story northern tower with sgraffito ornamentation, preserving its original appearance largely unaltered. Adjacent stands the unique 1601 Wedding Palace commissioned by Juraj Thurzó for his daughters' weddings, boasting rich sgraffito details, a grand hall once Slovakia's largest, and now exhibition spaces, while the site—linked to outlaw Juraj Jánošík's soldier days—houses a state archive and holds national cultural monument status.