Ilavský hrad

Ilava, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Ilavský hrad in Ilava, Slovakia, is a 15th-century Gothic castle likely built by King Sigismund of Luxembourg after the 1431 Battle of Ilava to defend the vital Váh River ford and trade routes. First reliably documented in 1446 with its captain Mikuláš z Klobušíc, it passed through royal hands—including Queen Elizabeth's 1439 pledge to Ulrich of Cilli and later John Hunyadi's acquisition—before owners like Blažej Maďar and Pavol Kiniži fortified it against Turkish threats. Extensively rebuilt into a Renaissance fortress in the mid-17th century by the Ostrošič family (evidenced by 1646 and 1652 dates with family crests), its six bastions and moats were demolished in 1674 by imperial forces amid conspiracy accusations, later serving as Slovakia's first Trinitarian monastery with Baroque additions before becoming a prison since 1856.