Some say that Slovakia has the highest number of castles and chateauxs per capita in the world. There are always plenty of those that I´d never visited before. Therefore I decided to visit the Stara Lubovna castle in summer. (Try to switch the website´s language into English. It didn´t work, when I was writing this article.)
This medieval castle was built in the late 13th century and had 2 security functions – protection of the important trade route between Poland and Hungarian Kingdom and protection of the Polish-Hungarian border. Also Polish coronation jewels were hidden at this castle and even Móric Benovský, the king of Madagascar, was imprisoned here.
The major part of the castle is refurbished and the reconstruction works are still ongoing. I´m always happy seeing Slovak touristy places developing and the Lubovna castle is one of those. They are doing really nice work. The guided tours in Slovak and also foreign languages are during the summer season available everyday several times. In summer you would probably notice birds of prey flying above your head and above the castle. It is because you can enjoy medieval falconry performance right at one of the courtyards. The castle is also kids-friendly place with a lot of side activities for children, what makes the castle a good place to visit with your whole family.
The castle stands on a limestone cliff above the open-air museum of Slovak architecture. We also started the day in the open-air museum and afterwards we went to see the castle.
If you would like to see this place on your own and you need any help, feel free to contact me anytime.
The map:
