Ľupča Castle

Slovenská Ľupča, Slovakia, Slovakia

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Ľupča Castle is a well-preserved Gothic fortress overlooking the village of Slovenská Ľupča in central Slovakia, built before 1250 after the Mongol invasion as a royal checkpoint on the vital Via Magna trade route from Banská Bystrica toward Brezno. First mentioned in 1255 when King Béla IV granted town rights to Banská Bystrica within its walls, it passed through powerful hands like Matthew Csák in the 14th century, Hussite captain Jiří Horváth, and King Matthias Corvinus before major Renaissance expansions from 1531 by the Thurn and Rubigal families, adding bastions, a massive Rubigal Tower, and a 112-meter rock-hewn corridor. Successfully repelling sieges like that of Štefan Bocskay in 1605 and hosting anti-Habsburg plots in 1666 under Palatine Francis Wesselényi, it now stands as one of Slovakia's best-maintained castles with ongoing renovations by local ironworks since 2002.