Bojnice Castle is a Romanesque castle in Bojnice, Slovakia with elements of Gothic and Renaissance architecture built in 12th century. The earliest mentions of it come from 1113 CE when it was a small wooden castle used mainly by the Slavs. It is considered one of the oldest and most important monuments of Slovakia.
The walled stone castle was built in 12th century and subsequently underwent major reconstructions in 1528, 1889 and 1950. Many owners came and went and most of them left their mark on the architecture of the castle, what we see today is a castle based on the romantic castles found in the Loire in central France. The castle was built on a low, rocky hill, connected in the Middle Ages with the Bojnice settlement by wood and earth fortifications (replaced by stone walls only in the 17th century). The original castle from the 13th-14th century consisted of a perimeter ditch and defensive walls of an oval shape, crowned with a breastwork with a battlement. At the end of the 15th century, the stronghold was extended by another, outer ring of defensive walls, surrounding the entire upper castle and separating the surrounding belt of the outer bailey. New fortifications were carried out in straight lines, and towers were located in the corners. In the 16th century, the upper castle was reinforced with a semi-cylindrical cannon tower from the east side. A pentagonal bastion was also erected on the north side, protruding entirely in front of the perimeter of the outer defensive wall and connected to the newly created zwinger (outer) wall. Another bastion was placed on the opposite, southern side of the fortifications, and the four-sided gate tower was preceded by a fore gate.
The 1528 reconstruction was the major rebuilding that resulted in the expansion of the castle to its current size but the contemporary architectural expression of the castle is the result of the last major rebuilding in 1889 undertaken by the last Count. This redesign placed an emphasis on romantic elements including art and design beyond just the architectural. Today the castle is host to hundreds of thousands of tourists each year that come from all over the world to admire its fairytale fantasy setting.
