In the 16th century were built brick floors of the palace, whose northern walls were reinforced. From the original buildings remained the lower masonry, two windows and two portals. The basement of the narrow eastern part of the palace was additionally barrel vaulted and the cistern was modified. There is only a staircase leading from the central castle, but the main element of the central castle was a prismatic tower, while other buildings were originally wooden. The walls led in straight sections, which broke and the entrance was probably where it is today.The interior is from the Gothic, Renaissance and Romantic times. 1752, with the exception of the exhibition headstone of Juraj Thurza from 1616. In the Thurzo Palace in the lower castle, the room is vaulted on the middle pillar, historical kitchen and sacristy with wall paintings from the Renaissance period. The romantic castle and dining room in the middle castle are connected with patterns from the Gothic period of the castle. The interiors of the donjon have remnants of wall paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Palace of John from Dubovec is periodly furnished.Today's appearance of the buildings is characterized by sgraffito facades, illusive indicating beams or stone buildings with bossed corners and blocking on the facades. The castle buildings are concentrated in the complexes of the lower, middle and upper castle with palaces, fortifications, towers, bastions, entrance gates and chapel.

The castle is first mentioned in 1267 as a guard castle of the north-south road of European importance (via magna) in the Kingdom of Hungary. King Belo IV took over the castle from Mike (Mikuláš) from the Balassov family. and made it the center of local government. From 1298 to 1321, Matúš Čák Trenčiansky ruled the castle. After his death, it was first administered by Master Donč, but already in 1331 King Karol Róbert appointed the Orava mayor and later also the castellan Leopold, administrator (comes) of the Kremnica Chamber. We know the names of numerous castellans and bathrobes until 1420, when Stibor II received the castle from King Sigismund of Luxembourg. However, the period from 1393 to 1401 was interesting, when the castle was occupied and owned by Prince Ladislav Opolský. After the death of Stibor II. acquired the castle of Mikuláš Balický, a mayor of Turc, who had it before the advance from Štibor. However, Peter Komorovský played a decisive role here for a long time. He first joined Ján Hunyady, and therefore the castle was occupied by Ján Jiskra of Brandýs after 1444 in the interest of Ladislav Pohrobek. When Komorovský regained the castle after the Kremnica peace, he gave it in advance to Peter Aksamit in 1455, and after his death (1458) Komorovský received both the castle from Matej Korvín and his appointment as mayor of Orava and Liptov. Nevertheless, he surprisingly joined the rebellion against the king and had to go into exile in 1474.

From the beginning of Vladislav Jagelovsky's reign, the Zápoľský family ruled at Orava Castle, and when Ján Zápoľský stood as a defiant king to Ferdinand I, his Orava captains Mikuláš and Peter Kostkovci defended the castle from General Katzianer's attacks. Nicholas died in 1535 as captain of Upper Hungary and the castle was given to his companion Ján of Dubovec, who remained until his death (1546). It was not until ten years later that the castle was acquired by František Thurzo. The castle became the seat of the Thurz family for 70 years. The Thurz family contributed to the current appearance of the buildings, which, starting with František Thurz, contributed to its restoration, making the castle one of the significant buildings of the Renaissance period. From 1626, the couple of Juraj Thurz's seven daughters owned the property, and the manor was managed by an appointed director. One of them was Štefan Thőkőly, who joined Wesselényi's conspiracy. Therefore, in 1670, the castle was surrounded by the army of General Heister, but surrendered only after Stefan committed suicide. Surprisingly, however, it was conquered by peasant rebels under the leadership of Gašpar Pik as early as 1672.

The castle passed through the last dramatic war events during the uprising of Francis II. Rákóczi. It was first conquered by insurgents under Alexander Károly in 1703, and then resisted the imperial army for several months, until in 1709 his garrison surrendered. During the administration of Juraj Erdődy (from 1714), the greatest damage was repaired, but the fact that the co-owners did not live in the castle led to its bankruptcy. In addition, in 1800 the castle burned down and threatened with complete devastation. Only thanks to temporary repairs under František Zichy was he able to overcome the worst of the castle, and it was not until 1861 that it received a permanent roof and was repaired. Therefore, a museum could be established in the castle in 1868. Jozef Pálffy, who has been taking care of the castle since 1896, was credited with the monumental alterations. The last, most important complex restoration of the castle since the burnout took place in the years 1953-1968. Minor alterations and repairs are still taking place at the castle.

The legend of the castle

At night, the figure of a woman with a lantern in her hand walks silently through construction sites and through courtyards. It is Alžbeta Coborová who oversees the castle, as she promised during her lifetime to her husband, the palatine Juraj Thurzo.

Who built Orava Castle

It probably happened a long time ago, when a kind of Marek came to Orava up to the bar, where Orava Castle stands today.

He looked at the steep cliff and decided that, as if the hellhound himself had helped him from the hot hell, he would build a castle on this high rock. As soon as he spoke these words out loud, a voice spoke beside him, offering to help him fulfill his dream. But help shouldn't be free, because every devil wants a fair reward for his service, a subscription to the human soul.

Marek was a little afraid, but he gathered his courage and agreed on the condition that if a hellhound builds a castle with beautiful rooms at the highest point in seven days and seven nights, he can lose seventy-seven years for his soul.

The devil landed on Mark's suggestion and started working vigorously on the robots. He worked, dragging the rocks all day and night, but he had to be careful not to let the structure slip into the water. The castle gate was high and sloping to one side, and the rocks needed for construction had to be brought in by far.

Marek frowned as he watched the devil's work, and with the increasing walls of the castle, he became more and more apprehensive, he didn't want to go to hell. He also turned to the Lord God and begged him to save him from hell by any action.

The devil continued to build and was already looking forward to bringing another unfortunate soul to hell. By the end of the seventh night, the castle was almost finished, with only a few details still to be completed. The devil wanted to bring another big rock to the castle, but it was difficult for him. He approached the castle slowly, carrying a heavy rock with all his might. In that reflection, he heard the roar of a rooster announcing the arrival of the morning of the eighth day. In anger at the failed contract, the devil dropped the rock into the water, where it remained. People called it Mark's Rock.

The massive stone Orava Castle still stands on the castle wall.

Opening hours and admission

http://www.oravamuzeum.sk/index.php/oravsky-hrad/otvaracie-hodiny

https://www.hrady-zamky.sk/oravsky-hrad/