To the oldest buildings of the castle belongs the original cylindrical tower and the eastern palace, which together with the wall enclose the inner courtyard. The tower adjoins the northern residential wing, the western wing and the loggia in the south. On the SW is a romantic extension, in front of which is a terrace on the site of a collapsed Baroque-Classicist building. From the north, there are economic wings and a Baroque chapel built on the site of the defensive bastion.The chateau is now the seat of the Považské Museum. In the rooms there were preserved wooden wall cladding and carved beamed ceilings, cross vaults and vaults with lunettes. Interesting is the exhibition of tinkering art. Budatin Castle after reconstruction, opened since 2016, offers also a tour of the 3rd floor and tower. On each floor there is an exposition linked to the history of the castle, an exposition of historical maps, a picture gallery, an exposition of clocks and a tour complete with a view of the city of Žilina and its surroundings.

A characteristic element of the oldest medieval castle is a cylindrical tower, which was built in the second half of the 13th century and probably served as a toll booth. Historians believe that the castle tower was built by the ancestors of the Balassians. This is also indicated by the efforts of Petr and Juraj Balassov, who, after the death of Matúš Čák, demanded her return after the illegal occupation by the oligarch. The first written mention of the castle as the Budetyn castrum dates from this period (1321). In 1336, the castellan Elijah worked here. Sometime during this period, the castle was surrounded by a wall and a moat on the outside of the fortifications. However, the wall collapsed in the second half of the 15th century due to a bad foundation in an artificial embankment.

The castle belonged to the king until 1436, when Sigismund of Luxembourg donated the manor to Juraj of Hatný. After Juraj's death, the owner of the manor was his brother Rafael. After Raphael's death, his widow Elizabeth married Gašpar Szunyog, and since Gašpar was a supporter of King Matej Korvín, he donated the castle to him as a reward. In the second half of the 15th, or at the beginning of the 16th century, under the leadership of the Szunyog family, the castle underwent extensive reconstruction. At that time, a new wall and a new moat were built, which surrounded a much larger castle complex. In 1528, the castle was seized by the Kostkovci brothers in the service of King Ján Zápoľský. The Podmanický brothers opposed them and 6 years later they took over the castle. In 1545 the castle was again handed over to the son of Moses Szunyog. In the first half of the 17th century, they fortified the fortifications in the north and west with bastions, but even this fortification did not prevent the conquest of Thököly Castle by insurgents in 1684. Later, in 1742, Anton Szunyog transformed the northwestern bastion into a Baroque chapel and had a castle building built.

In 1798, after the death of Ján Szunyog, Anton's son, the county Csáky family acquired the seat. The descendant of the Ladislav Csáky family, however, joined the revolution and in 1849 his castle was conquered and burned by the imperial army. Probably the most serious reconstructions took place in 1920-1923 by the last and childless owner Gejz Csáky. The buildings restored in the spirit of Romanticism gave Budatín Castle its present appearance. The Csáky family owned Budatín until 1945. From 1956, its premises became part of the Považský Museum.

In 2006 and 2007, archaeological research was carried out at the castle.

There are no myths available.

Opening hours and admission

https://pmza.sk/budatinsky-hrad/

https://www.hrady-zamky.sk/budatinsky-zamok/