Last month we spent two weeks in Slovakia. We agreed with my cousin that we would stay at her place on the way to the eastern part of the country. We didn't see her in a long time, and we were excited to spend some time with her and her family. I looked for some places close to their home that we could visit with them. At the end, one of her children got sick, so it was only me and my husband. Frankly, I didn't mind as it would have been crazy with three kids.
There were various options, and we decided to visit a castle - what a surprise, right? 🙂 Honestly, I haven't heard of the Budatín castle before, and I was excited to see it. When we arrived in the area we were surprised to see how majestic this castle is. I thought that we visited all great castles in Slovakia before, but I was wrong.
Budatín castle is located near Žilina which is the center of the region. We pass by it every time we drive to my hometown, but it is hidden between large trees in a castle park, so we didn't see from the road before.
The castle dates back to the 13th century. It was built as a royal castle, which explains its appearance. Today, there are not many original features left as the castle was almost completely rebuilt, but it is possible to visit its medieval tower.
It is built next to a river and there is no natural protection from the enemies, so in the 17th century the castle was fortified. The fortification didn't protect it for long and the castle was damaged and burned by the Habsburgs in the 19th century. Later, it was rebuilt, but it was only used as barracks until the World War II. After the war, it was nationalized and rebuilt to its current appearance. History
The castle is situated in the middle of a park called Budatín park. This park is used for all kind of free time activities, and we saw a few people jogging and biking. It was raining when we came, so there were not many people around, but I can imagine that in summer the area is bursting with life.
We walked around the park before entering the castle. There are information boards around the park from which you can learn some details about its flora. The oldest trees in the park are about 300 years old! There are some exotic plants too, but I guess that you can see them only when it's warmer.
Let's go inside...
As you can see on the tower's clock, we arrived around 10 am. We only had a quick breakfast at my cousin's place and then left as the children were not happy and she was busy calming them down.
Because of this we didn't manage to have our morning coffee, so we decided to visit the castle's restaurant before going on a tour of the castle. Apparently, they only open at 10 am and when we arrived we couldn't order any coffee because the waitress came late to work and didn't turn on the coffee machine. We had to wait for 20 minutes for the machine to warm up and get our espressos. It still came out cold though.
The restaurant was stylish, and we didn't mind waiting.
We checked out the menu and they are only serving typical Slovak dishes. It somehow fits the castle, but not the style of the restaurant (in my opinion). Once we finished our coffee, we walked towards the ticket office to purchase our tickets and start the tour.
The entrance to the castle costs 8 EUR per person. All information is in Slovak (from what I saw), but you can get a small book with description of each room in various languages. There are also castle employees in every room who are happy to answer any questions, but I'm not sure if there is somebody who would be able to answer in English.
The exposition starts with archaeological finds. It is dedicated to the development of settlements in Slovakia and you can find there various objects from Žilina and its surroundings.
Here we can see the most valuable objects in the castle with wooden sculptures dating back to the 15th century.
These walls are one of the few original parts in the castle. They are a couple of meters thick, and normally it should be cold in this room, but the temperature is managed to protect the valuable items.
The second part of the archaeological exposition is dedicated to the castle, and we found there three models of the castle from the 14th, 16th and 18th centuries.
In the past, Budatín castle was surrounded by a water moat, and therefore it belonged to only a few water castles in Slovakia.
The first official owner of the castle was Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, Hungarian oligarch who owned a big part of the country. It was interesting to read about what I learned at school many years ago.
Over the centuries, the castle gained importance as well as size. The fortification walls were build to protect the castle and its inhabitants.
On the other side of the room we saw more archaeological items and an example of traditional clothing. My grandma used to wear similar headscarf. I only saw her once without her headscarf. It was when she was preparing herself for bed combing her long gray hair.
And here we can see the castle before the fire. Some features resemble its current appearance, but there are many parts that were changed or are missing today.
Let's move to the next part of the exposition...
In this part, we could see the rooms that were inhabited by the last owner of the castle Gejza Čáki. He lived in the castle until 1945. The castle was nationalized after the war and he had to leave. In 1961, he left to France to live with his daughter. This is where he died in 1974.
The guide told us that even today some people remember Gejza. He was a kind gentleman who treated kids in the village with cookies. These kids are retired now, but they still have fond memories of Gejza.
On these portraits we see Franz Joseph I of Austria with his wife Empress Elisabeth of Austria also known as Sissy. She looks nothing like the actresses portraying her in movies 🙂
I loved the wooden floors in the castle. It made that squeaky sound from horror movies.
Most of the furniture are replicas and they serve as examples of how such rooms where furnished in the 18th-20th centuries.
This is the family tree of Gejza Čáki...
Milan Rastislav Štefánik was a politician who served in the World War I. He died in a plane crash and here we can see an original part of this plane. Another history lesson in real life.
I enjoyed this part of the exposition as I have always been fascinated by World War I. and the time around the first Czechoslovak republic.
Here we can see examples of regional crafts and gilts.
Žilina was an important town during medieval time. It had a lot of privileges and rights, one of them was right of swords which means that executions could be held in the city. The sword was originally situated above the gate of the townhall. Today, we can see it in the castle.
The executioner was a well respected person and lived in one of the biggest houses.
Below we can see examples of his swords. As you can see they had different form than standard swords. At the end, they were also used for different purpose than the standard ones 🙂
We also learned some interesting facts about Žilina. I would only mention that it's more than 800 years old!
This is an original treasury which could only be accessed by three people. Each of them had a key, and they could only open it altogether. It's similar to the banking system that we have at work. It's actually even better as we only have two signatories 🙂
This room was a little bit confusing as it showed a bit of everything. See it for yourself...
Before going to the tower, we visited the dining room. It's a beautifully decorated room with wooden plates placed on the walls. Apparently, it appeared in a few fairytales, but I have no idea which ones.
Let's move to the first floor of the tower. It is a large oval room with high ceilings. There was one more additional floor above this one, but it was destroyed, and this is why the ceiling is so high now. The entire space is much bigger than it looks from outside.
There is a hole in the ceiling where we could see another floor with its inside balcony.
The map on the wall is a land map of Žilina from the 18th century.
We were lucky that it was lunchtime as we could spend some time without guides. These guys were everywhere wanting to talk about such small details and rushing us through the rooms.
There is also a small model of the castle on this floor.
When you look closer you will see a tiny Slovak flag 🙂
This was my favorite room as I really liked the ceiling. Let's see what we will find one floor up...
In the past, this room was used as big library. Today, it's more of a picture gallery with oldest picture dating back to the 16th century.
When you look down from the balcony you will get a view of the room below. It's such an interesting construction.
There is one more floor to see and on the way we spotted another Slovak flag. It was windy and it took me many attempts to get the flag this straight.
The last room of the exposition features historical clocks. The mechanism in the middle doesn't work anymore as the tower clock works on electricity. It is the original mechanism which was placed here in the past as well.
When we finished our tour we walked back to the car as we had about 5 hours drive ahead of us.
I was actually glad that it kept raining as I could walk around with my favorite umbrella 🙂
Luckily, there were no issues on the road and we came home in time for dinner with plenty of time to spend with our family.
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Je to asi velká ostuda, protože to není daleko od českých hranic, ale myslím, že v Žilině jsem asi ještě nikdy nebyl, o hradu Budatín slyším dnes poprvé a stejně tak o panu Gejzovi Čákovi (zajímavé jméno :D), trapas, co? Ale jako podle fotek to tam vypadá fakt super! Za mě jasná kategorie "hidden gems" :) S tím červeným deštníkem ti to moc sluší, vypadáš jak nějaká pohádková postavička :)
Tipáky pošlu zítra večer, dneska už mám rozdáno ;)
Ja som bola v Žiline len raz a to si teda ani nepamätám, či som bola v centre alebo nie, takže žiadna ostuda 🙂 Vtipné bolo, keď sme si uvedomili, že cesta domov je fakt len pár sto metrov od hradu, ale nikdy sme ho pre tie stromy nevideli 🙂
Veľmi sa nám to páčilo a určite by som ti tento hrad odporučila, ak by ste sa niekedy vyskytli v okolí. A keď už budete na Slovensku, tak chodťe aj na Oravský hrad. Ten je úplne super.
Ďakujem 🙂 Odkedy mám ten dáždnik, tak si dážď normálne užívam 😂
Páči sa mi ako si si to počestil na tipáky 😉
No jo, jenže ty pocházíš z východu Slovenska, ne? Takže to máš z tama do Žiliny (mnohem?) dál než je to od nás ze Slezska, takže trochu ostuda to pro mě je :) O Oravském hradu už jsem slyšel, ale popravdě mě asi nejvíc láká Bojnický zámek, ten vypadá fakt jak z pohádky... Teď se dívám do mapy a vidím, že ty Bojnice taky nejsou zas tak daleko od Žiliny, asi tam fakt budem muset někdy zajet a omrknout všechny hrady a zámky v okolí :D
Tipáky už se nesou :D ;)
Ach, to je pravda. A po naších cestách je to do Žiliny viac ako 4 hodiny. Tak to sa teda utekaj hanbiť 😉
Bojnícky zámok je krásny, ale asi najviac navštevovaný, takže počítaj s tým, že tam bude strašne veľa ľudí. A ak si správne spomínam, tak sa musíte pridať ku skupine a nemôžete si hrad prezerať sami, čo ja teda nemám rada. Ale je tam fakt pekne, takže to stojí za to. No potrebujete predĺžený víkend a hybaj na Slovensko 🙂 Oh, a keď už tam budete, tak zájdite aj do Bánskej Štiavnice. Tam sa vám bude páčiť 😉
Ďakujem, ďakujem 🙂
Já vím, že ty Bojnice budou tak trochu "tourist trap", asi něco jako Karlštejn nebo Hluboká u nás, ale ten zámek vypadá fakt úžasně... Btw, když jsi taky spíš na ty "hidden gems" kde se nemusíš mačkat s davy dalších návštěvníků, tak doporučuju zámek v Hradci nad Moravicí. Je to kousíček za Opavou, odkud pocházím. Ten zámek je fakt nádherný (správně bych měl říkat zámky, protože je to ve skutečnosti dvojzámčí, které se skládá hned ze dvou zámků - Červeného a Bílého), ale není zdaleka tak profláknutý jako třeba právě Hluboká nebo Karlštejn, takže se to tam dá krásně projít a nafotit, v klidu a bez davů :) Jo a ještě jeden fun fact: na hradeckém zámku nějakou dobu pobýval i Ludwig van Beethoven, dodnes tam má sochu ;)
Another great tour of "the girl of the castles" :) How beautiful and luxurious this place, it shows that they have it well preserved. It doesn't even look like it was built all those years ago. That dining room does look like the one from a princess's tale, I imagine a big family with all their children having lunch there.
Thanks for sharing this walk. I liked your photo with the umbrella, it was very cute. Greetings ❤️!
The girl of the castles.. I like it 😁
It looks like from a tale and it actually is, but I really don't know which one. Might need to google it 🙂
Thank you for your comment! I love my umbrella 😉 Have a lovely day!
The castle looks like a newly built building, because of how well preserved it is. I loved the dining room, its stone walls make the place a very cozy space, sitting down to taste any dish must have been an unforgettable culinary experience! The interior balcony gives it a very romantic touch. The photo that stuck in my pupils was the biker dressed very modern, with his beautiful wool scarf and leather jacket, apparently reading something VERY interesting, I loved it!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful ride, I managed to transport myself and enjoy this magical castle in the distance.
I wish you a happy evening, best regards! @delishtreats
Thank you for your thoughtful comment!
That biker was somehow out of space, but indeed very stylish 😉
Have a lovely day!
Wow! Everything there
is amazing! In my entire life, I've never seen a castle in reality. I learned a lot from your blog. It seemed that I was there too. I like it.
The trees, oh my God! Such an old one. They really value it as it is standing still through the years.
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will get to visit Europe then. There are plenty of castles here 🙂
Have a lovely day!
Hello @delishtreats or if I may call you Martina ?
Indeed a wonderful castle. One thing notices is that how well maintained the castle is. Loved the feel of the place and how walking from one room to another would practically need a map for me.
I really liked the pictures you took from inside the rooms of windows showing the outside view.
Those are very interesting.
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Beautiful castle. Your post sent me studying Slovakian history as I felt sorry for the last owner when the castle was nationalized lol but it is nice to preserve the parks for the people to enjoy. Have a great Friday 👍
Oh, he was not the only one. Actually, at that time almost everyone lost their possessions. And so many high society people left the country as they feared for their lives as well. You will not be bored studying it 😉
Have a lovely weekend!
I know what you mean. If the kids came, you would never have been able to take such an extensive tour of the castle. Hope the kid has recovered now .
Three kids are too much already and if one of them is sick you just want to run as far away as possible 😂 Thank you, he is fine now 🙂
Hope, you're doing good! 🙂
Visiting a castle that was built in the 13th century must be impressive, considering the magnitude of its architecture and that it houses a lot of history. Being in a place like this is fascinating. I have proposed this year to do guided tours in the most important palaces of Buenos Aires and your post and your visit to this castle have given me more encouragement @delishtreats 😍 Beautiful photos and impressive the Budatín castle in Slovakia.
!discovery 45
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Thank you for stopping by!
I'm looking forward to seeing posts from Buenos Aires from you 🙂
This looks like a rather modern castle, and the many times it was rebuilt/renovated shows. I do like some of the unique architecture designs still there, like the hole in the ceiling.
The motorcycle looked so out of place after seeing the different old sculptures and objects. The castle grounds also looked nice and well maintained. Thank you for sharing.
I agree, the biker does indeed look out of space, but I think it was placed there because the exposition showed the 20th century too. I actually liked him 🙂
Thank you for stopping by!
I am enchanted to see such a beauty, especially since it is so well preserved, everything looks flawless.
Your post took me through the alleys outside the castle but also through the impeccably decorated rooms for that thank you, I feel like I was there.
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A marvellous castle with trees all around, but the inside of the castle enchanted me! Beautiful!!!
Best regards @delishtreats!❤️
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
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I have been looking at your post for a long time, the things you share are so special, the way you shared castle all the pictures with us today. It happens that one sees a beautiful place everyday but one doesn't have time to go inside it the way you took time today. I have seen all the pictures the way everything is set up everything looks very beautiful. I really like it. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Heh, tomuto týpkovi taky nikdy nevím, co odepsat, většinou ty jeho komenty absolutně nepobírám :D Ale možná si ty posty fakt prohlíží a jenom se tak podivně vyjadřuje :)
Vôbec netuším, ale jeho komenty sú fakt odveci. Neviem, či sa náhodou nesnaží len získať nejaké upvoty. Ja som mu teraz myslím len prvýkrát odpísala, ale len tak neutrálne, keďže by sa mu asi nepáčilo, keby som mu povedala, čo si fakt myslím 😂
Mně teď naposledy napsal "I hope you will win this contest" u soutěže, kterou sám už několik let pořádám :D
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Due to its excellent preservation, the castle appears to have just been constructed. I adored the dining area, which has stone walls and is a quaint environment. Tasting any food there must have been an unforgettable gastronomic experience! It's incredibly lovely because of the inside balcony. I adored the picture of the biker who was dressed quite stylishly, with a gorgeous wool scarf and leather jacket, and who was obviously reading something VERY intriguing.
I'm very grateful that you shared this amazing ride with me since it allowed me to escape and take in the distant, magical castle.
Best regards and have a wonderful evening!
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Amazing castle, thanks for sharing!
So beautiful!! All those circles in the architecture are extremely captivating!!
@tipu curate 5 :)
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The way you explained, I found myself there in my imagination. I really wanna explore castle in future.
Lovely to read your post about Budatín castle! I can see your passion to explain and to photograph all the important details! I almost felt that I walked in that creaking floor! Ahahah
Loved this part som much... It's so great when the memory (good one) of a person survives and passes one's own lifetime! Love the ripple effect
I love history and this castle looks really well presented and preserved! Everything looks so beautiful and valuable. Now I would go research about Slovakian history😊. This as beautiful as the castle here in Ireland too.😊