The frontier castle was built between 1301-1308 to protect the the former Polish-Old Hungarian border and to watch over the important trade route along the picturesque Poprad river valley. The first written mention comes from 1311 – the castle is named as a part of royal property. 1412-1772 it was the seat of Polish administrators.
In the course of its history, the castle was visited by many royals. Among them were: Charles Robert of Anjou (1314), Sigismund of Luxembourg (1396 and 1412), Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland (1412 and 1419). John III Sobieski (1683) – on his way from victorious offensive against the Turks – the Battle of Vienna.
Following a fire in 1553 the castle was reconstructed in renaissance style. The building development process of the castle was completed by early baroque style construction carried out after 1642. In 1882 it became the property of Zamoyski family and the last lord of the castle was Jan Kanty Zamoyski. He moved to Spain in 1944 with his noble spouse Princess Isabel Alfonsa de Bourbon, niece of the Spanish king.
White snow has painted the roofs of romantic Ľubovňa castle as well as the field under it. Fog and birds are encircling it, creating a mystic picture, as mysterious as the origins of the castle. Where facts are missing, legends jump in, offering explanations. Legendary hero Ľubina with his people started building the castle. However, whatever they were able to construct during the day, came to nothing during the night. The devil managed to destroy it. The castle could only be built due to the fact, that Ľubina had sold him his soul. Fortunately eventually the devil lost his power over Ľubina. Good for Ľubina 🙂Interesting crosses next to the pavement leading to the castleLike from a fairy taleGatehouse. There used to be an older gate on this spot but in 1627 this tall baroque bastion with entrance gate was completed. There are machicolations above the gate, to pour hot pitch onto the enemy. In 1746 this bastion was called Bierfas = beer kegRenaissance palace to the right, white early baroque castle chapel and gothic tower – bergfried – to the leftThis 15th Century gate is the entrance to the upper castle. The portico is called “donkey´s back” and it is remarkable. The gate was altered in the 16th Century in renaissance style, but donkey´s back survived 🙂Inside the gate, which now serves as a carriage house. Mylord coach, 19th Century, something like present day SUV 🙂 designed for driving in woods, fields and parks and to be pulled by one or two horsesGothic tower – bergfried – from the turn of 13th and 14th Century, later three buttresses were added to it. This is the oldest part of Stará Ľubovňa castle. The ground floor served as ammunition storage and there was another storage above it. The second floor was a dungeon. In 1768 famous bold adventurer Moric Beňovský was imprisoned here. He was the most famous prisoner of this castleMóric Beňovský – Maurice Benyovsky (1746-1786), king of Madagascar. Yes, true, as very soon following his imprisonment here his adventures took him to Madagascar where he really became king. His adventures even took him to Japan, too. He was a traveller! 🙂 His story came to life for us Slovaks especially after series Vivat, Benyovsky, starring our handsome and popular actor Jozef Adamovič (1939-2013) were filmed in 1975
Renaissance palace to the left and the white castle chapel to the right as seen from the towerView from the castle tower – open-air folk architecture museum. It consists of folk buildings collected in the surrounding villages. The wooden Greek-Catholic church consecrated to St. Michael Archangel of 1833 is the most valuable item and it is seen in the photo, too. It was transfered here from MatisováView from the castle tower – the High Tatras, our beautiful mountain range, the tallest of SlovakiaRenaissance palace – inside. It was constructed on the spot of a medieval kitchen destroyed by the fire of 1553 according to the design by Ján Frankenstein. In the lower part there was a brewery, bakery was above it and a kitchen and storage areas were above it. At the top floor there was a representative hall and apartments. However it fell into disrepair. Museum collections were installed hereDistillery and brewery are also part of the exhibitionPolish coronation jewels – replicas. Original jewels were kept in this castle from 1655 until 1661. The reason was that Poland was in an armed conflict with Sweden and the events of this period – the Swedish invasion – are denoted by the term “Deluge”. The Swedish Army captured almost the entire country in 1655 and the coronation jewels were transported from the Wawel Castle in Kraków to Stará Ľubovňa Castle, which in Polish was called Lubowla. They were hidden here until 1661St. Michael Archangel chapel was constructed in 1647. Original three baroque altars and a font are preservedJan Kanty Zamoyski (1900-1961) and Isabel Alfonsa de Bourbon (1904-1985) during their wedding in 1929. Under their photo, original little scarf is exhibited, authentic which Isabella is holding in her hand in the photo. Isabella was the niece of Alphonso XIII, king of Spain (1886-1941), who attended their wedding. Jan Kanty Zamoyski was of Polish aristocracy and he was born in Stará Ľubovňa. He inherited this castle from his father Andrzej Zamoyski
Original Isabella´s silk slippers. Notice fleur de lis or = golden lily flower, embroidered on those to the right = heraldic symbol of the BourbonsWestern renaissance bastion was designed by an Italian constructor Anton. The construction started probably after 1544 and was completed in 1553. The bastion shielded the castle from the most vulnerable south-western side. Both in the upper and lower part there were 8 embrasures for cannons; with its 16 embrasures it was the mainstay of the castle defence. In 1617 cannons named: dragon, tomcat, duda (what ever that may be), falcon, were here. This is the only preserved bastion of this type in Slovakia – an orillion (=little ear) typeCannon in the western renaissance bastion, constructed in the 16th Century
