During the construction of the castle a rocky hill of volcanic origin was used, which was on the northern side of the vertical walls so high that it was enough to just sew them into the shape of the walls, and later break out the cannon holes. The original palace stood at the southern wall and was rebuilt many times. In the 12th century it consisted of a four-sided tower, a perimeter wall and a wall with palisades. Later, residential buildings forming the upper castle were added to them. During the rebuilding of the Bebek family, the old run was modified with a thick wall and the middle castle was surrounded by a stone wall. The southern wall of the Upper Castle Palace was reinforced in late Gothic, and a circular cistern was excavated in its western part, as there were always water problems in the castle. The lack of water was solved by the construction of additional tanks - three more are visible.Interesting is the closed corridor in front of the southern wall. through which the road to the gate passed. It is preserved in its entirety and finished with rounded bastions, probably from the late Gothic construction phase. However, the depiction of Fiľakovo from 1553 does not capture this corridor at all, so there are doubts about his dating.

The castle is one of the oldest stone fortifications in Slovakia and is securely documented in connection with the rebellion of Knight Folkuš in 1246. However, it was probably one of the places that resisted the destructive Mongol invasion in 1241 due to the brick construction. Despite the fact that it belonged to important castles, it fell into the royal hands only after it was conquered by Matúš Čák (1321). At the end of the 14th century, Sigismund of Luxembourg gave the castle an advance to a powerful family of lords from Jelšava, specifically to the palatine Leustach, but in 1435 the castle was taken over for the first time as an advance from Queen Barbora by the then flourishing Bebek family. Three years later, however, the castle was given to Ján Perényi by Albrecht of Habsburg. Štefan Perényi took part in the resistance against the king in 1471 in the interest of the Polish Casimir, for which the castle was besieged twice and in 1483 conquered by Ondrej Lábatlan.

Since 1490, Captain Blažej Rakšai has been entrusted with the administration of the castle, whose daughter František Bebek married and receives the castle as a dowry. Due to the impending Turkish danger, František rebuilt and fortified the castle. To this day, the pentagonal tower built into the southeast corner of the middle castle bears his name. The castle was also equipped with an equally shaped gate tower. However, this did not help either, because the Turks on September 4, 1554 used the inattention of the garrison and occupied the castle almost without a fight. It took almost forty years before Mikuláš Pálffy regained the castle in 1593. However, this was not the end of Turkish power, which in 1596 conquered the beautifully fortified Jáger (Eger). Moreover, in 1605, the rebellious Štefan Bocskay managed to occupy the castle. Frequent military riots between the power groups of the Habsburg Empire and the emperor also forced rapid and repeated adjustments - in 1608, 1609, 1613 and again in 1619 (after the fire of 1615). In 1621, thanks to this, the castle was able to withstand the attack of the rebels Gabriel Bethlen and Juraj Rákóczi did not even attack it in 1644. During the uprising of Juraj I. Rákóczi, the commander of the Fiľak fortress, František Wesselényi, sided with the emperor. Ján Kemény and his army protected the rear of the insurgent units besieging Fiľakovo in 1644. At the beginning of August 1645, with a army of about 3,000, General Farkaš Puchaim pulled into Fiľakov. Juraj I. Rákóczi died in 1648, and in the same year the Thirty Years' War ended.

In the middle of the 17th century, three bastions were added to the lower castle. In the years 1650-1664 Adam Wesselényi was the captain of the castle, and from 1657 Štefan Koháry I became the hereditary captain and from 1667 Štefan Koháry II. Thököly attacked the castle in 1678, but did not recharge it. The last Turkish offensive after 1680 was fatal for the castle. A large army of Kurucs associated with the Turks surrounded the castle and, despite the heroic defense, conquered and demolished it after a month's siege in September 1682. The castle burned down and, together with the castle, the county archives burned down and the town was destroyed. The castle has been in ruins ever since. There was no restoration, but the later owners of the manor approached the ruins with a certain piety and respect. The castle ruins have been conserved since 1972, and after the reconstruction of the Bebek Tower, there is still a historical exhibition in it.

There are no myths available.

Opening hours and admission

http://www.hradfilakovo.sk/index.php/pre-navstevnikov

https://www.hrady-zamky.sk/filakovo/