ORAVA / Árva CASTLE (Oravský hrad) stands on a limestone cliff above Oravský Podzámok / Árvaváralja village. The royal castle built under the early Árpád dynasty was rebuilt into a private retreat for King Louis I the Great, who received a number of illustrious guests like King Casimir III the Great of Poland. In the middle of the 16th century, the castle and its appurtenances were acquired by Ferenc Thurzó. In 1800, Orava castle was burnt to ashes in a great fire, which could not be extinguished for two weeks because of a lack of water. The stronghold consists of a lower, a middle, and an upper castle. Tradition holds that the upper castle is the oldest of all but some of its edifices were in fact built by Ferenc Thurzó. The stables built for Thurzó and the castle fountain are located in the middle castle. The lower castle can be accessed through three gates; each was surrounded by fosses and equipped with drawbridges in the past. The farmstead's archive was kept in the lower castle. The castle chapel was erected during the period of Palatine (Hung. nádor; Lat. comes palatinus) György Thurzó. The cover of the sepulchral monument of the Thurzós is displayed next to the altar and the coats of arms of members of the Thurzó and Czobor families hang on the walls. György Thurzó, his spouse and their very young son, Imre, are buried in the family vault under the chapel. Oravský Podzámok village had ca. 400 inhabitants in the 1850s.

Bibliography: Árva 1857, Árva 1866, Divald, Kubinyi 1890, Mednyánszky 1844, Mednyánszky 1981, Szombathy 1979