Lubovna castle

Welcome to the ancient castle of Lubovna and let us warmly invite you to find out its
interesting architecture and rich history.

1. THE HIGH BAROQUE BASTION
WITH ITS ENTRANCE GATE
Built in the middle of the XVII century. It used to be the
entrance to the castle. In the passage of the Baroque gate is
the original metal sheeting of the iron tipped gatehouse, below
which was placed the drawbridge.

2. THE RENAISSANCE TOWER WITH THE GATE (LAPIDARIUM)
By the time of building a new gate, it used to be the entrance to the lower part of the
castle. Now you can enter only through the gate for the pedestrians because the bigger
entrance has been walled up and changed into the loophole. In the passage there used to
be also a second gate (do not miss the valuable Renaissance portal), behind which was one
more bar. In the middle of the room you can see the exposition of the basic review of the
castle’s building development, detailing its three periods, the Gothic one, the Renaissance
and the Baroque one. The exposed Renaissance and Baroque tablets from the XVI and XVII
centuries present the achievements of each custodian in the castle restore or its construction. The Renaissance tablet of the custodian Jan Boner, proving the restore of the castle after
the fire in 1555, ( in the middle you can see the royal sign of Sigismond II August)

3. THE RENAISSANCE BASTION (RONDEL)
The round bastion was being built by the inhabitants of Stará Lubovna in 1528. Originally
there used to be three big cannon loopholes in its lower part. After the east bastion had
been built in the mid-XVIIth century, it lost its original defending role and one of the three
loopholes was rebuilt to the entrance gate through which it was possible to pass from the
first court to the second one.

4. THE HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
The review of the most important events in the castle history
- Beginning of the XIV century – construction of the castle
- 1311: first written report about the castle
- 1323 -1343: the castle owned by the family Drugeth
 - 1364 - Stará Lubovna was given the town privileges by the sovereign Louis I the Great
- 1392: the Queen Mary of Hungary visited the castle
- 1396: the Hungarian king Sigismond Luxembourg visited the castle
 - 1412: the castle became the place of appointment of the Hungarian sovereign
(Sigismond Luxembourg  and the Polish king (Vladislaus II) who signed the
peace and friendship treaty there.
 - 1412 - Sigismond Luxembourg gave the castle to the deed for the loan of 37,000 heaps
of Czech groschen to the Polish king Vladislaus II and both with the castle the towns
of Stará Lubovna, Podolínec, Hniezdne and other thirteen Scepus (Spiš) towns (the
deed certificate, the seal of the Province of thirteen Scepus (Spiš) towns.
- 1412 - the castle becomes the custodial seat of the deeded territory (the medieval
shape of the castle)
- 1494 - the Polish king Johann I Albrecht visited the castle during the time when the
custody was in the hands of the Polish noble family Kmita (1478 – 1553 except a short
break)
- 1553 - during the time of Ján Boner’s custody the castle restoring after the fire was
ordered by the Polish king Sigismond II Augustus (the tablet proving the castle
renovation)
- 1591 - 1745 - the custody of the deeded territory becomes to the hands of the Polish
family Lubomirski
- 1656 - the castle was visited by the Polish king Jan Kazimir at the time when
Polish royal jewels were hidden there (1656-1661)
- 1658 - the castle was placed by the Polish parliament to six fortresses kept on the
state costs
- 1683 - the Polish sovereign Jan Sobieski visited the castle
- 1768 - Moric Benovsky was committed in the castle
- 1772 - by the first division of Poland during the Hungarian queen Maria Therese Therese’s rule the period of the Polish custody of deeded territory, lasting for 360 years, finished
- 1819 - the castle was bought by J. F. Raisz from the state
- 1883 - 1944 – the castle is being owned by the Polish noble family Zamoyski
- 1945 - the castle reowned by the state

5. THE BAROQUE PALACE
In the passage of the gate is placed the memorial tablet dated
from 1642, immortalising Stanislav Lubomirski’s achievements
in the further construction of the castle with the gate.
On the ground-floor is exposition „The guilds and crafts in
Lubovna castle surrounding“.

6. THE WEST RENAISSANCE BASTION
Built in the middle of the XVI century according to the plans of the outstanding architect
Anton Vlach-Italicus. It protected the castle from the south and west. In its upper part there
were eight cannon loopholes.

7. THE UNDERGROUND PASSAGES
In the passages of the Renaissance bastion used to be eight cannon loopholes. Both with
its 16 loopholes the west bastion used to be the pillar of the castle defence.

8. THE LATE-GOTHIC GATE
In the XV it used to be the entrance to the castle. The portal – so-called „ass-back“ has
been preserved. Today there is a carriage shed.

9. THE EXPOSITION ROOM
Originally there used to be guards’ rooms.

10. THE GOTHIC PALACE
In the middle of the ancient castle are the ruins of the Gothic palace from the XIV century.
After the big fire in 1553 the palace was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. In the basement
of the palace three vaulted cellars have been preserved. On the ground floor were the
store rooms, on the first floor the great hall with its big windows and above it were the
chambers. It was possible to pass from Lubomirski palace to the
tower by three passage ways, one on the ground floor, another
ones on the first and the third ones.

11. THE GOTHIC TOWER
– BERGFRIED (DON’T BE AFRAID)
Built at the beginning of the XIV century. Three supporting
pillars were added to it later. The ground floor used to be a store
of the gun-powder. Above it used to be another store, where it was
possible to get in only from the first floor of the Gothic palace.
On the second floor used to be the prison, which Moric Benovsky
was acquainted with as well in 1768. On the third floor used to be
a watchtower, a store of the gun-powder on the fourth one, a room with two cannons on
the fifth one and on the sixth floor used to be a bugler’s room, today it is the lookout tower.

12. THE BAROQUE PALACE - THE EXPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL FURNITURE
The collection of the presented furniture comes mostly from the time of the last owners
of the castle, the Raisz and Zamoyski families.

13. THE BAROQUE CHAPEL
St. Michael Archangel’s chapel was built in 1647, the fact
celebrated by the text of the marble table above the entrance
of the chapel. In front of the chapel is the cemetery where
Juraj Raisz has been buried, one of the last castle owners.
From the original equipment of the chapel three Baroque
altars and the font have been only preserved.

14. THE CASTLE WELL
It was digged in the Middle Ages.

15. THE RENAISSANCE PALACE
Built after 1553 according to the plans of the outstanding
architect Ján Frankenstein. In the lower part of the castle
a brewery has been hewn from the rock. The bakery used to be
above it, the kitchen and the stores were located above the bakery.
The great hall and the chambers were situated in the upper parts
of the palace.

16. THE EXPOSITION OF THE FAMILY ZAMOYSKI
The upper part of the high bastion houses the exposition devoted to the last private
owners of the castle, the family Zamoyski.

DEAR VISITORS!
Thank you very much for visiting the castle and we would like to take this opportunity
to invite you to Lubovna open-air museum where there is much to see, including a unique
wooden church.