Bojnice Castle is one of the oldest in Slovakia, the first written document dates back to 1113. At the time of its construction, the Castle was a structure entirely made of wood. During the twelfth century it was rebuilt in stone.
At the end of the thirteenth century the Hungarian magnate Matus Cak occupied the Castle until 1321.
From 1494 Bojnice Castle belonged to the Zapolsky family, who finished the construction of the Castle with the defensive towers.
In 1528 Ferdinand I, King of Hungary, gave the entire property of Bojnice to the Thurzo family. In 1637 the ownership of the Castle passed to the Palffy family, who in 1852 had the Castle rebuilt inspired by the French castles in the Loire Valley.
The extensive neo-Gothic reconstruction was carried out between 1889 and 1910 and changed the original appearance of the Castle. Duke Jan Palffy died in 1908 and until 1940 the Castle was in a state of neglect. In 1945 Bojnice Castle came under state oversight with the creation of the Museum.
Inside there are numerous rooms still with the original furnishings, but the most important are: the blue living room, the large hall, the marble room, the throne room and the tombs of the Palffy family.
Outside the Castle there is a garden at the French while under the building there are caves.
The Castle of Bojnice became famous all over the world thanks to the films of Fantaghirò being the Castle of the Black Witch.
Getting to Bojnice Castle from Bratislava
Bratislava is almost 200 km away and there are no direct connections.
You can get to Prievidza station (about 3 hours) and then continue by local buses to Bojnice (about 10 minutes).
The town of Bojnice shares the transport system with Prievidza, both in the Nitra Valley and separated by a few kilometers.
