Liptovský Hrádok

Liptovský Hrádok is a town in northern Slovakia, Liptovský Mikuláš district. The town is located at the foot of Low Tatras (Nízke Tatry) mountain range and its population is about 8,000 people.

Liptovský Hrádok was named after the nearby castle which became the main reason of historical development of the town. The castle is also the main point of tourist interest. Liptovský Hrádok castle was built in the XIVth centry by the head of Zvolen country Donč. The castle was first mentioned in the document in 1341 and at that times it was called Vyvar.

The first facilities in the castle were the residential building and two towers built on 5-metre rock and surrounded by defensive walls and moats filled with water. Later a courtyard with a well and another defensive tower were built at the foot of the rock. At the early XVIIth century a big Renaissance manor house was built there. In 1709 the castle was seriously damaged during the 2-days battle of Francis II uprising. In 1762 the castle building was reconstructed and Liptov administration office of mining, metallurgy and forestry was located there. After a destructive fire of the castle and manor house in 1803, only the manor house was renovated by the local government and lately the museum was located there. Nowadays some buildings of the architectural complex are privately owned and a hotel, a restaurant and a winery are opened there.