Monuments to visit Central Slovakia

Not far from the confluence of the Slatina and Hron rivers, in the old town of Zvolen, there is an urban castle, built between 1370 and 1382 under the reign of King Louis the Great of Hungary. It was then renovated during the 16th century and more recently in the 1960s. Today, it houses a beautiful collection of Renaissance paintings belonging to the national gallery as well as temporary exhibitions of artists or young art students.

One of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia. Originally mentioned in the ^12th century, the castle was built of wood before being completely rebuilt in stone in the ^13th century. In 1643, it passed into the hands of the Pálffy family, to whom the castle owes its current magnificence. Between 1889 and 1910, John Francis Pálffy devoted a considerable part of his fortune to embellishing the castle. The architect Joseph Hubert, known for his taste for the neo-Gothic style, was in charge of the work. On John Francis Pálffy's death, the château came under state ownership. Its successive embellishments make Bojnice the finest example of Slovakian castle renovation in the ^19th-century Romantic style. The castle's interiors still display the original decorations of the Pálffy family, whose portraits adorn the walls. Highlights of the visit include a beautiful chapel with magnificent ^14th-century murals, the winter garden, an incredible Oriental salon with Arabesque ornaments and Buddhist statuettes, the gilded hall with its ceilings inlaid with gold leaf, and the castle caves where a spring carved the rock and in which the skeleton of a Neanderthal man was discovered. Various types of tours are available, including night visits, sometimes by candlelight only, with a guide in period costume - an original way to discover this unique building and its legends.