Archaeologically uncovered remains of the walls of the original town castle are located in a park near the Municipal Office in the village Ľubietová, about 25 km from Banská Bystrica.
The Ľubietová town castle disappeared in the 19th century, when it was dismantled and the material from it was used in the construction of a municipal house and probably also other buildings. The castle had a regular square layout. It consisted of four, probably two-storey bastions and a separate brick building. It may have been older than the castle itself, and it is possible that the Count may have lived in it, representing the king in the mining town and supervising the mining.In the years 2012-2014, archaeological research was conducted here under the leadership of M. Kvietok. During the research, the interior of the SW bastion of the town castle fortification was completely uncovered. Its southern edge was destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century during the construction of the fencing of the courtyard of the municipal house. The courtyard area of the municipal house and the adjacent plots were the place where the town castle complex was located. If we do not count interventions in the form of excavations of engineering networks and foundations of younger buildings, then in most of this area there are intact terrains as well as walls of the city castle building. At present, the lower part of the walls in the park consists of the original exposed masonry from 1564 and based on the decision of the Monuments Office, geotextile was used to cover the masonry and stones deposited around the excavations, ie andesite stones, also from the stream and material of the copper deposit on Podlipa were put on the original walls.
- Source: information board in the village
Ľubietová and its surroundings have been inhabited since ancient times, as evidenced by archaeological finds from prehistoric times. This ore-rich site has left numerous traces of prehistoric mining. The Slavs also lived here. In 1241, the Tatars invaded Hungary, which also affected the locality of Ľubietová, which they plundered.
The first written mention of the Ľubietová locality dates from 1379, when Ľudovít Veľký granted Ľubietová city privileges and became a free royal town.
In historical sources, Matej Bel was one of the first to dedicate himself to the town castle in Ľubietová. It also describes the fortifications around the perimeter of the manor, the construction of which, however, began only during the Turkish threats. According to the results of archaeological research, we can date the construction of the town castle itself to the second half of the 16th century, specifically to 1564, to the aforementioned period of direct threat to the Central Slovak mining area by Ottoman expansion. In the end, the Turks never got to Ľubietová.
According to the village plan from 1866, the castle had a regular square layout in the final phase. Bastions of irregular square plan were built in the corners. Adjacent to the southwest bastion was a rectangular building, which was probably built earlier and only then was incorporated into the castle complex. It was this building that could be the seat of the Count of Comoros.
In the years 2012 to 2014, the village of Ľubietová, in cooperation with the Central Slovak Museum in Banská Bystrica, began archaeological research of the town castle under the leadership of Martin Kvietek. The research revealed the interior of the SW bastion of the town castle fortifications and the findings revealed the history of the former free royal town of Ľubietová in a significant way.
The rumor of a castle that was just for eyes
When in Štiavnica, at the beautiful Nový zámek, the councilors of seven Central Slovak mining towns founded their union, they made many good decisions there, but for one pettiness they almost quarreled. They could not agree on the order of the seats of the annual assemblies, until in the end the invited castle clown had to decide on this by drawing lots. Even so, it happened that after Štiavnica, Kremnica and Bystrica, Ľubietová, it was the fourth time to hold the annual assembly.
As the Ľubietová councilors returned to the carriage house, they only thought about it for a long time, what a parade they would welcome the masters of other mining towns in three years' time. And since Štiavnica, Kremnica and Bystrica have beautiful city castles, they will not lag behind them in Ľubietová and they can also build a great castle.
At that time, Ľubietová only had the old town hall and a few burgher houses for visits and lagged far behind the beauty of other mining towns in this. And that's why, according to councilors, she must have her castle and then let someone slander her try. But as they came through the house and saw into the emptiness of the yawning city treasury, they borrowed money from the lords of Ľupčiansky Castle and put a large part of the Ľubietová district in advance.
When the Ľubietová councilors had borrowed money, they called to the last leg of all the Ľubietová people in front of the old town hall, and they began to build a castle around the town hall. And even when all the miners from the surrounding tunnels were called to the robot, they did not make any profit for the city for three whole years from the closed mines. Read more...
The people of Ľubietová built their castle from the stones from the stream, and thus completely destroyed the paved banks of Hutná. And when there was no stone in Hutná, all the paved roads, sidewalks in the city were dismantled and the paving was completed.
Three years, like the water in Hutná, passed quickly, the borrowed money was wasted, and since the castle had not yet been surrounded from the outside, the women of Ľubietová woven the cloth day and night, until finally the men cleverly enriched the whole castle with this cloth. And they did well, for the carriages with the councilors of other mining towns were already rattling along the dismantled roads of Ľubietová.
When the councilors of Banská Štiavnica, Kremnica, Banská Bystrica, Pukanec, Novobansk and Bansko-Belel came to Ľubietová, they did not notice the new castle at all, they passed under its gate and held talks in the old town hall. And after that meeting, they did not even look into the castle palms and stayed in the surrounding burgher houses. And the next day they decided that the annual assemblies would continue to be held only in Kremnica, they got in the carriages and from where they came, they rattled there.
As the guests left the city, the Lubietov councilors were left with only eyes to cry. The new castle went unnoticed, the roads and sidewalks were flooded, the banks of Hutná washed away from the water and the debts would rather not even be thought of. After that trigger, the people of Ľubietová had nothing left to do, only dismantled the new castle, re-paved the roads, sidewalks from its matter and strengthened the washed-out banks of Hutná with suits and frogs. And the debts? The councilors had to tighten their belts, and when they lengthened the city after great misery and got a large part of the district from the reserve, they have only been fleeing to the good old town hall since then, and they have been constantly softening it with repairs, paintings of walls and chambers.
Many years have passed since the time the castle stood in Ľubietová, and many would like to forget this, not very glorious time. Everything said here, however, is true, because the good old town hall still stands in the square today, and makes Ľubietová to be Ľubietová repeatedly. And what about the castle itself, what was it built for the eye? His remains have only recently been found underground, and the wise people of Lubiet decided to preserve them, and only so that future generations would see for themselves that the history of Lubiet had written their chronicle with such a story.
The remains of the walls are freely accessible in the park. There is a museum room in the municipal office.