The floor plan of the castle consists of a trapezoid with dimensions of 57.5 x 20 m. In the vicinity of the castle was a perimeter fortification made of quarry stone, which was complemented by a semicircular turret with a diameter of 3 meters. The corner on the northeast side is slightly rounded. The fortification around the tower was 42 meters long. At the beginning of the construction, a large square tower with dimensions of 10 x 10 m and 3 m thick walls was built on the northwest corner of the courtyard. The road to the complex led over the castle moat and was protected by palisades. A gate was built into the palisade fortifications.Not much of the original building has been preserved, but the walls and especially the floor plan in the form of a stone subsoil are still visible.

Jelšava Castle, known as the Old Castle, is paradoxically, despite its name, newer than the castle in the Hradovisko position above the town of Jelšava. The castle was built by the Ratold family de Ilswa in the mountains more than two kilometers west of the city, probably at the end of the 14th century. The builder was probably the palatine Lenstach (Leustak) Jolsvai of the Ratold family (Ratót de Ilswa - Jolsvai). The castle was smaller in size and can be classified more as an aristocratic residence.

The first written mention of the castle dates from 1421. Around 1427, when the last descendant of the Jolsvai family, Juraj, died, the castle fell into the hands of King Sigismund. In 1430 it was put in advance by Queen Barbora Celjská and in 1435 the castle was acquired by Peter Bebek and his family.

In the 15th century, many military events took place in the vicinity of Jelšava, especially in the presence of the troops of Ján Jiskra, Polish soldiers and brothers, which probably caused that in 1453 the castle was already in ruins. In the same year, King Ladislav Pohrobok donated the ruined castle to his treasurer Ján Perényi.

In 1461, however, it is already mentioned as a castellum - a castle, when it was probably repaired by the Perényi family. But in the years 1466 to 1526 it was again in the hands of the Bebek family.

We have no information about the final destruction of the castle, but it could have happened at the latest during the plundering of Jelšava by the Turks in 1566. According to the census from 1573, the castle is already mentioned as a ruin.

Not much of the castle has been preserved, but the remains of the walls and the floor plan in the form of a stone subsoil are visible.

There are no myths available.

The ruins are freely accessible

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