The central part of the castle is a massive tower - donjon. It also included a palace, a chapel and other buildings surrounded by an irregular fortification wall with semi-circular bastions. From the southern side is accessible a large courtyard, which encircles the core of the castle and protected the tower.The walls have been preserved, some only in the foundations, others to a considerable height. In places, there were fired, demanding blocks, window and door openings in the walls. Also on some walls Renaissance plaster with sgraffito ornamentation.

Ústrednú časť hradu tvorí mohutná veža - donjon. Patril k nej aj palác, kaplnka a ostatné budovy obklopené nepravidelnou hradbou opevnenia s polkruhovitými baštami. Z južnej strany je prístupné veľké nádvorie, ktoré obopína jadro hradu a ktoré chránila veža.Zachovali sa múry, niektoré len v základoch, iné do značnej výšky. Miestami sa v múroch zachovali strielne, nárožné kvádrovanie, otvory okien a dvier. Tiež na niektorých múroch renesančná omietka s sgrafitovou ornamentikou.

Although a credible document has not been preserved, which would clarify the time and reasons for the construction of the Zborov castle, the construction beginnings of the castle can be traced back to the period after 1317, when Karol Róbert was consolidating power. It is assumed that the castle was originally intended to perform a guard function on the trade route and the function of a border castle. The first preserved written report on the existence of Makovica Castle is a document of King Louis I from 1347, where it is mentioned as "de Makauicha". The castellans at that time were Štefan and Juraj Bebekovci. As early as 1364, Peter Cudar of Ónod acquired the castle estate of Makovica from the monarch. The Cudarovs expanded the castle estate with the surrounding property and thus created an extensive feudal dominion in northern Šariš. However, unfavorable political conditions in Hungary in the following period seriously disrupted the character and density of population. Polish military campaigns in 1439 - 1444, 1471 and 1491 - 1492 through the Makovice estate, the operation of Jiskra's mercenary troops, chaos in the country and feudal anarchy were associated with the struggle for the Hungarian throne and stimulated the activities of robber fraternal groups. This condition lasted until the end of the 15th century. After the extinction of the Cudarov family in 1470, King Matej Korvín donated the Makovice castle estate to the owners of the Stropkov castle estate, the lord of Rozhanovice (Rozgonyiovci). In r. In 1493 the castle estate was acquired by the Silesian nobleman Schellenberg and after him in 1522 lords of Torysa (Tarczay family). In the struggle for the Hungarian throne, they supported Ján Zápoľský and after his defeat they were dominated in 1548 by King Ferdinand I confiscated and assigned to his follower magnate Gašpar Serédy. After his death in In 1553 the manor was inherited by his son Juraj. The Seredys expanded and fortified the castle. After them, Ondrej Balassa acquired the castle. Finally, until r. In 1601 he owned the Polish magnate Ján of Ostrog, who married Serédy's daughter. Ján z Ortrogu sold in r. 1601 Makovice estate together with the castle to Žigmund Rákóczi. During the suppression of the uprising in 1684, Imperial General Schultz conquered the castle and ordered it to be demolished. At that time, there was already a manor house in the town of Zborov and the castle was not restored. In the 18th century, the manor was confiscated and divided. Part was acquired by Count Aspremont, husband of Juliana Rákóczi, sister of František Rákóczi II., Part by the Szirmy family and a smaller part by the Erdöy family. In 1915, the most difficult battles of the Eastern Front between Austria-Hungary and Russia took place around the castle, when the castle was severely damaged. In 2010, a civic association was established to save Zborov Castle.

Hoci sa nezachovala hodnoverná listina, ktorá by bližšie objasňovala dobu a dôvody výstavby hradu Zborov, stavebné počiatky hradu možno zaradiť do obdobia po r.1317, keď došlo k upevneniu moci Karolom Róbertom. Predpokladá sa, že hrad mal pôvodne plniť strážnu funkciu na obchodnej ceste a funkciu pohraničného hradu. Prvou zachovanou písomnou správou o existencii hradu Makovica je listina kráľa Ľudovíta I. z r. 1347, kde sa spomína ako "de Makauicha". Kastelánmi boli v tom čase Štefan a Juraj Bebekovci. Už v roku 1364 získal od panovníka hradné panstvo Makovica šľachtic Peter Cudar z Ónodu. Cudarovci rozšírili hradné panstvo o okolité majetky a vytvorili tak rozsiahle feudálne domínium v severnom Šariši. Nepriaznivé politické pomery v Uhorsku však v nasledujúcom období vážne narušili charakter a hustotu osídlenia. Poľské vojenské ťaženia v r. 1439 – 1444, 1471 a 1491 – 1492 cez makovické panstvo, pôsobenie Jiskrových žoldnierskych vojsk, chaos v krajine a feudálna anarchia boli spojené s bojmi o uhorský trón a podnietili činnosť lúpežných bratríckych skupín. Tento stav trval až do konca 15. storočia. Po vymretí rodu Cudarovcov v r. 1470, daroval kráľ Matej Korvín makovické hradné panstvo majiteľom stropkovského hradného panstva, pánom z Rozhanoviec (Rozgonyiovci). V r. 1493 získal hradné panstvo sliezsky šľachtic Schellenberg a po ňom v r. 1522 páni z Torysy (Tarczayovci). V bojoch o uhorský trón podporovali Jána Zápoľského a po jeho porážke im bolo domínium v r. 1548 kráľom Ferdinandom I. odňaté a pridelené jeho prívržencovi magnátovi Gašparovi Serédymu. Po jeho smrti v r. 1553 zdedil panstvo jeho syn Juraj. Serédyovci hrad rozšírili a opevnili. Po nich získal hrad Ondrej Balassa. Napokon ho do r. 1601 vlastnil poľský magnát Ján z Ostrogu, ktorý sa oženil s dcérou Serédyho. Ján z Ortrogu predal v r. 1601 makovické panstvo spolu s hradom Žigmundovi Rákóczimu. Pri potláčaní povstania v r.1684 cisársky generál Schultz hrad dobyl a prikázal zbúrať. V tom čase už existoval kaštieľ v mestečku Zborov a hrad sa už neobnovil. V 18. storočí bolo panstvo skonfiškované a rozdelené. Časť získal gróf Aspremont, manžel Juliany Rákócziovej, sestry Františka Rákócziho II., časť Szirmyovci a menšiu časť Erdöyovci. V r.1915 sa v okolí hradu odohrali najťažšie boje východného frontu medzi Rakúsko-Uhorskom a Ruskom, keď bol hrad značne poškodený. V r.2010 vzniklo občianske združenie na záchranu hradu Zborov.

Castle and devils It is said that they started building the castle on the Kaštielik hill, where strigs and devils met. And so what people built during the day was gone in the morning. The devils, in order not to be hindered by the wild dance, carried them to the neighboring hill. To save more work, the builders preferred to build a castle where the devils moved the stones. Due to this dispute, he was named Sporov and over time his name was transformed into Zborov. Broken heart Gaspar II. Seredy loved Zborov very much. But Žigmund Rákóczi also liked the castle, who wanted to buy it from him. So, if he wanted to keep the castle, the nobleman had to diplomatically persuade the great tycoon in some way from the intention. He agreed to the sale on the condition that he asked for that time an exorbitant amount of money to be paid by ducats minted in the same year. One day, however, Sigismund actually brought the moss of ducats, which came from the same year. Sered kept the word boyishly, but his heart could not stand the loss of Zborov and burst from grief. To this day, a memorial stands along the road from the village of Dlhá Lúka.

Hrad a čerti Hrad vraj začali stavať na vrchu Kaštielik, kde sa však stretávali strigy s čertmi. A tak čo cez deň ľudia vybudovali, to bolo ráno preč. Čerti totiž, aby im kamene neprekážali v divom tanci, ich prenášali na susedný kopec. Stavebníci, aby si ušetrili ďalšiu prácu, radšej postavili hrad tam, kde im čerti tie kamene poprenášali. Vďaka tomuto sporu ho pomenovali Sporov a časom sa jeho názov pretvoril na Zborov. Puknuté srdce Gašpar II. Serédy si Zborov veľmi obľúbil. No hrad sa zapáčil aj Žigmundovi Rákóczimu, ktorý ho chcel od neho kúpiť. Šľachtic teda musel, keď si chcel hrad ponechať, veľkého magnáta od zámeru nejakým spôsobom diplomaticky odhovoriť. S predajom súhlasil pod podmienkou, že si vypýtal na tú dobu nehoráznu sumu peňazí, ktoré musia byť vyplatené dukátmi razenými v tom istom roku. Jedného dňa však skutočne Žigmund priniesol doslova mech dukátov, ktoré pochádzali z rovnakého roku. Serédy dané slovo chlapsky dodržal, avšak jeho srdce stratu Zborova nevydržalo a puklo od žiaľu. Dodnes popri ceste z obce Dlhá Lúka stojí jeho pamätník.

The ruins are freely accessible

Zrúcanina je voľne prístupná