Although the castle is already a ruin, it still boasts beautiful remains of massive walls and parts of towers. The buildings that formed part of Čachtice Castle are now relatively well identifiable. The fortifications have retained the remnants of label Renaissance attics, the upper castle are fragments of the original plaster with paintings. The castle is shrouded in historical legends and mysteries associated with Countess Bathory.At the highest point of the castle was built a palace with a prismatic and horseshoe tower, which was also located a chapel. Other buildings were built around the upper courtyard gradually in the 14th century, while the large courtyard of the middle castle was lined with farm buildings just on the outskirts. Another palace and chapel came from the time of the Stibor reconstruction. The lower courtyard, which was mainly used for defense, was accessible from the upper ridge over a ditch cut in the rock. In the second half of the 16th century, there was a long connecting tunnel between the lower courtyard and the Renaissance courtyard. In the first half of the 16th century a manor house was built under the castle.In 2012-2014 the castle underwent an extensive reconstruction. The farm building was completed and roofed, the vaults were restored, a lookout terrace was built, and the tower was roofed. The castle was opened to the public after reconstruction in 2014.

It is assumed that the castle was built by Kazimír from the Hont-Pázmány family around 1263. According to the oldest mentions of the castle, in 1276 Kazimír's sons Peter and Pongrác successfully defended the castle from the invasion of the Czech King Otakar II. At the end of the 13th century, Matúš Čák Trenčiansky seized the castle. After his death in 1321, he was occupied by the gunmen of Karel Robert. In 1392 he received Stibor I Castle, a gift from King Sigismund of Luxembourg. Stibor amassed a huge fortune and became the richest feudal lord of Hungary. His property included about 15 castles. He called himself "Dominus Vagi" / Mr. Vahu /. Stibor I died in 1414 and his extensive property was inherited by his son Stibor II., Who died in 1434 without leaving a descendant. The castle then fell into the hands of Michal Országh de Guth. During his era, a three-storey chapel was built on the castle, from which a wooden choir is located in the Gothic chapel of St. Anthony. Under Matej Korvín, Michal Országh became a palatine and gained other privileges that stimulated the business life and economic prosperity of the manor. Another member of the Országh family, František, also recovered from Vladislav II in 1510. confirmation of exemption of Čachtice from taxes. The last members of this family were Ladislav, the mayor of Novohrad and Heveš, and his son Krištof, who became a regional judge. Because he died in 1567 without descendants, the Čachtice estate with the castle passed into the hands of the monarch as crown property.

In 1569, the castle and the surrounding manor were deposited by the Nádašdy family, for 50,000 forints and in exchange for Kanizsa Castle. František Nádašdy, also known as the famous Turk killer, received the castle for himself and his descendants into permanent ownership only in 1602, for 36,000 forints. After the death of František I. Nádašdy in 1604, his widow Elizabeth Báthory inherited Čachtice Castle and the manor. Thanks to it, Čachtice Castle became "sadly" famous. According to legend, Elizabeth Bathory committed several murders and crimes that were unparalleled until then, but not long after. She was said to be obsessed with the desire for beauty, and she was sure that when she bathed in the blood of young girls, she would rejuvenate. So she began to torture and kill her maids mercilessly, and she also brought more and more girls to the castle. She committed these crimes for a quarter of a century, in the years 1585 - 1610. After her crimes were discovered, Elizabeth Báthory was sentenced in 1610 to a life in prison at Čachtice Castle, where she died on 21 August 1614. However, there was never a proper trial about her actions, and so various rumors and gossip arose. No one knows the real truth and probably won't even know it anymore. Thus, Čachtice Castle remained shrouded in mystery and its legend spread throughout the world. After Elizabeth's death, her children, her son Pavol, daughter Katarína, married to Juraj Drugeth, and daughter Anna, married to Mikuláš Zrínský, inherited the property. Elizabeth Báthory's family used to live in the manor house, which stood in the town of Čachtice, during the life of František Nádašdy.

After the death of Elizabeth Báthory, the castle served only as a fortress. In 1663 there were Turkic raids near the castle. In 1671, the Vienna Chamber confiscated all the property of Francis II. Nádasdy, including the castle, because he was accused of conspiring against the emperor and of participating in the Velosen uprising. Nádašdy was executed and the imperial army looted, set fire to and destroyed the Čachtice manor house and damaged the castle as well. Finally, in 1695, the royal chamber divided the manor between the important families of Homonnai Drugeth and Erdödy. During the uprising of František Rákóczi II. the castle played its last role in the war, when in 1703 it fell into the hands of the rebels after fierce fighting. In 1707, Imperial General Guido, at the head of 4,000 infantry and cavalry, surrounded and occupied the castle. A year later, on Rákóczi's orders, almost after a day of fighting, the castle was reoccupied by troops led by Commander De La Motte. In the same year, after the Battle of Trenčín, Čachtice Castle was again seized by imperial mercenaries, who destroyed the walls of the fortress so that the castle could never be used by the insurgents. Since then, the castle is in ruins.

The legend of the castle

In the ruins at night you can hear the crying and wailing of girls tortured by the Elisabeth Bathory.

Legend about the Lady of Čachtice

Elisabeth Bathory, heartless and cruel, punished even the smallest offense of her maids as painfully as possible. A gloomy castle lady usually punished the girls for work which was not finished properly. For example: breaking a vessel, for an order not carried out to complete satisfaction by pinning or wounding with scissors, applying a hot trowel to the body, ignited in oil , soaked and wrapped in woolen threads, undressing at winter nights, etc. Once a vain-minded commander sat in front of a mirror and, irritated by the maid's slight inadvertence, struck her so hard on the face that the maid was covered in blood. The drop sprayed on the tyrant's face, and as she wiped it, it seemed to her that her skin was whiter and fresher than before. So now she had finally found the rejuvenating power she had been searching in vain for so long. A bath in a girl's blood removed traces of beginning old age. With the help of two old maids and the castle monster Ficko, Elisabeth Bathory wasted three hundred girls in a few years, who gradually disappeared without a trace and no one knew what had happened to them.

The bloody secret was finally revealed by chance. A young man, whose sweetheart had also mysteriously disappeared, searched for her for so long that he found her corpse. Unfortunately, revenge drove him from place to place until he came to Prešpork, where the palatine Juraj Thurzo was just sitting in public court and accusing Báthoryčka of a hundred-fold cruel murder. He unexpectedly surprised a judge and found a corpse of a killed girl who had not yet been removed. This evidence was soon supplemented by others, which resulted in a life sentence for a perverted woman. Juraj Homonnay got half of the manor when he married Katarína Nádasdy - the daughter of that villain. The second half was donated by King to the Erdody family after the beheading of Francis II. Nádasdy. Until a few years ago, they showed a cellar in which the unfortunates were murdered, as well as a vessel in which they caught warm blood and carried a superstitious mistress. People didn't like to walk near this blood-soaked place at night, because it was common to hear terrifying moans and yawns, and even to see the murdered girls walking. Now that the whole castle is in ruins, the ghosts seem to have calmed down.

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