Welcome to the Middle Ages! Stepping into this jewel among the castles will bring you back into the time of Kings and Queens, knights fighting for the honor of a maidens, and medieval life as it was. 

The castle was built at the turn of the 13^th and 14^th century when it became a part of the boundary castle system in the north of the Hungarian Kingdom. It is located on a limestone cliff of 711 m over the city Stará Ľubovňa in the north-east of Spiš and you can see it from any side while approaching with the car (my favorite view is when you are arriving from Prešov).  

Accessibility

As mentioned, visible from both arriving roads (no matter if you are coming from Poprad or Prešov) you will see the castle from the road. Coming by car, take a turn to the street Zámocká, which is about 2.2 km (1.3 miles) long before you reach the castle (or rather the parking lot). You will have to park your car at the parking place before the castle and waddle a little to reach it.

You can also reach the castle on foot from the city center (Stará Ľubovňa)  following the red hiking mark (it takes about 45 min.)

Practical Information

The castle is opened all year long except for December. Opening hours vary based on the season.

For actual information visit their website here link.

Season	Open days	Open hours	Last entry	Holidays
may – september**	monday – sunday	9:00 – 19:00	18:00	open
october	tuesday – sunday	9:00 – 17:00	16:00	closed
november – february*	tuesday – sunday	9:00 – 15:00	14:00	closed
march *	tuesday – sunday	10:00 – 16:00	15:00	closed
april	tuesday – friday	10:00 – 17:00	16:00	open

You need to buy the tickets in the open-air museum. There are many arrows and even a lady who will giude you, so no worries, you cannot miss it. 

ADMISSION

• Adults:  9 € (about 10.70 $)
• Children above 6 years old: 6 € (about 7.10 $)
• Penguins: free entry

For more detail click here link. 

A little bit of history

•  It was built at the turn of the 13^th and 14^th century.
•  In the past it protected the former Polish-Old Hungarian border, but was important as well to secure the  trade route passing along the valley of the Poprad river to Poland.
• In 1412, the historical meeting of the Old Hungarian ruler Sigismund of Luxembourg with the Polish king Vladislav II took place in the castle. 
•  The Castle was pledged to Polish kings and became the seat of Polish mayors.
• 1553 there was a great fire that destroyed a majority of the castle which then underwent a reconstruction, from which the castle obtained a more modern shape of a Renaissance fortress. 
• After the return of the Spiš towns to Old Hungary, the role of the Castle diminished and the Castle itself fell in decay.
• In July 1768, Móric Beňovský, a nobleman, traveler and later king of Madagascar, was imprisoned in the castle.
• Later reconstruction started and is still ongoing as always new rooms and exhibitions are being opened. 
• The castle has it’s importance due to the fact that is was a shelter for the Polish crown jewels, and a replica can be seen displayed also now. 

Legend says…

As forensics did not yet exist at that time, they had to take it into their own hands. After a little investigation, the nobleman found out that the land where he is building belongs to an evil fairy-witch (maybe it happened because also real estate agents were not a thing back then, thankfully we have them now). Because he wanted to finish with his castle, he went to the witch and made a deal, he would give her his soul. After the business meeting and the “payment” was agreed on, the construction went on without issue. However, as the castle was almost finished, the nobleman got a little stressed about the payment, after all a soul is a soul, and he went to the nearby cluster and prayed at the church for help from God.  The evil witch heard about it and decided to destroy the castle with a giant boulder. As she was approaching, the church bells rank and she lost her power and the boulder fell next to the river Poprad.  You can see the boulder still today about 5 km (3.10 miles) away from the castle. 

Now note, here some argue that it was not an evil witch, but the devil himself, who was destroying the constructions. Hard to tell after all the years later, but it is interesting that the boulder is called Devil’s hill (so it might have been the Devil after all). 

Impressions

The castle itself is a large complex of individual expositions and it can take a whole day just to waddle the castle itself. Apart form the many rooms, there are  four castle courtyards, where on one you can even buy refreshments. 

If I would have to choose my favorite part, it would be the Gothic Tower, because you have a nice view from there, even seeing High Tatras when he weather allows. 

And of course, with a tower comes also my oldest enemy – stairs!  Note as well, if you are taller you should watch your head, as it gets pretty tight and low, however, the  views are worth it. 

With 90 percent of the castle restored you can see a lot.  Like for example the brewery room. Of course they had their own room for making beer, drinking was a main activity back in the day. 

The Renaissance Tower has displays from the life not only in the palace, but also from the surrounding villages. And in hot summer days it provides the perfect cool down. 

The torture chamber is an in interesting one as well. It has a ghostly vibe there. Just imagining what was happening here gives me chills. 

Was glad to be out of there. 

Here a special sneak peek of the castle as it is my favourite one.