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Uhrovec was established as a refugial castle during the 1960s. Its construction is attributed to the Trenčín mayor Báš, who acquired extensive property around and was able to carry out this construction. The first written record of the existence of an already built castle and manor is a document of the Esztergom Chapter from 1295.

Uhrovec Castle

Uhrovec was established as a refugial castle during the 1960s. Its construction is attributed to the Trenčín mayor Báš, who acquired extensive property around and was able to carry out this construction. The first written record of the existence of an already built castle and manor is a document of the Esztergom Chapter from 1295.

It states that Matúš Čák decided to exchange his property in Tekov for the castle Uhrovec (castrum Ugrog) and the villages Podlužany, Bánovce, Horné Naštice, Uhrovec, Bancúch, Žitná, Radiša, a village located below the castle, which was called Močiarnik (today Podhradie) and Šípkov. Although Matúš Čák paid the original owner of the manor, Peter, the son of Master Báš, the sum of 50 hryvnia, it was a clearly unequal exchange of property. In a document of the Esztergom Chapter from 1297, Mikuláš complains that Matúš Čák forced him and his father Petr to exchange their estate Uhrovec for several worthless villages in Tekov under the threat of death. Thus, in 1295, one of the most important oligarchs in Hungary became the owner of Uhrovec. Matúš Čák owned the Uhrovec castle estate until his death in 1321, when it became the property of King Karol Róbert.

Uhrovec Castle remained in royal hands until 1389, when King Sigismund of Luxembourg donated it to his favorite Štibor of Štiborice and Beckov and his brothers. The castle included the town of Bánovce and 21 villages in the Radiše stream basin and on the upper course of the Bebrava. The Štibor family owned the manor until 1434. As they were the most important and richest magnates of Hungary, their construction activities at the castle cannot be ruled out. After the death of Štibor Jr., Uhrovec Castle belonged to the king. He gave it to his wife Queen Barbara in 1435. She owned it until 1439, when her castle was taken away by the Hungarian king Albrecht of Habsburg and given to his wife Elizabeth.

At the beginning of the 1840s, the influential magnate from Liptov, Pongrác from Sv. Nicholas. We do not know the circumstances of obtaining the castle in detail, but there is evidence that Pongrác lived in Uhrovec. In 1453, King Ladislav V Pohrobok legalized Pongrác's possession of the castle for his proven faithful services and granted it to him in hereditary possession. Ján Pongrác is mentioned as the owner of the castle after Pongrác's death. The castle also belonged to Ján and his daughters during the 1980s. Construction activities can also be associated with the Pongrác family, especially increasing the castle's defenses, because after the death of King Albrecht, feudal anarchy broke out in the country. The Pongrácovs are also associated with fake activities at the castle.


In 1483, Ondrej Danffy of Doboz is mentioned as the backup owner of the manor. Ondrej Kolár from Výčap is also mentioned as another co-owner of the castle at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1506, the widow of Ondrej Danffy Barbora gave the castle estate in advance for 7,000 gold to Vavrinec Salczer of Záblatia, who Uhrovec held until the early 1930s.

In 1530, the castle estate was acquired by Uhrovec Peter, called Doktor de Zylagy, the administrator of royal income. In 1533, Ferdinad I confirmed his tenure. Peter Doktor married Brigita and Slopný, and after 1533 he decided to rebuild the castle in advance. It was at this time (between the years 1533-1546) that the so-called The lower castle and access to the castle via a bridge under a cannon bastion. Petr Doktor's marriage remained childless. In 1547, King Ferdinand I granted the castle estate Uhrovec to František Zay of Čemer. Putting a new owner in possession was not easy. The widow Brigita and other surrounding nobles protested against this. The king acknowledged the widow's claims for Peter the Doctor and ordered Francis Zay to compensate her adequately. In 1549, therefore, he ordered the Nitra Chapter to estimate the amount of financial costs that Peter Doktor had invested in the reconstruction of the castle. The representative of the chapter, together with masons, stonemasons, carpenters and stone breakers, estimated Petr Doktor's expenses as follows: the value of the walls built on the lower and upper castle and the value of the material used (stone, lime, iron, wood) was set at 4,000 gold ducats. The value of the carpentry work was estimated at 500 ducats, the excavation of the ditch and the cistern on the lower castle at 1,000 gold. The amount of 5,500 gold coins is very high and testifies to a significant reconstruction of the castle.

Until his death in 1570, František Zay did not have time to carry out any significant construction work on Uhrovec, because he was constantly in the royal service far from home. After 1570, the castle estate was divided among the sons of František Zay. The importance of the castle increased in the following 17th century, when in the times of anti-state uprisings and the Turkish danger it served as a refuge for the Zayovs and the surrounding nobility. Many kept their valuables and deeds of donation in the castle. In the second half of the 17th century, disputes between the Zayovs about the maintenance of the castle multiplied. In 1680, for example, Štefan had the Trenčín capital testified that only he himself took proper care of the castle's maintenance, while his other brothers neglected this duty.

During the 18th century, the castle slowly lost its functionality and, apart from a few gables, the owners did not live permanently on it. It was used as a prison. In 1802, the Zay family from the pieta to their ancestral seat had an emergency repair of part of the castle roofs, which were torn down during the storm. In July 1848, the castle was set on fire and began to fall into disrepair.

Additional information

Transport: By foot, By bike, By car, By bus
Parking: Free parking nearby

Accepted payments: Cash
Languages: Slovak

Suitable for: Childrens, Families with childrens, Elderly, Young, Adults
Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Updated on: 10.6.2019
Source: Hrad Uhrovec

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Uhrovec Castle
Uhrovský hrad
956 41  Uhrovské Podhradie
Region: Trenčiansky
District: Bánovce nad Bebravou
Area: Ponitrie
 48.754151, 18.391494

Uhrovský hrad
956 41  Uhrovské Podhradie

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