Budatín Castle (building 1)
The oldest medieval castle built in the 2nd half of the 13th century in the place where the river of Kysuca flows into the river of Váh. The first written mention about the castle, back then called the fortress of Budatín, dates back to 1321, when its owner Matthew III Csák died. The oldest part of the castle is the cylindrical tower with a ground floor entrance and the remaining wood and clay constructions. The castle was surrounded by a moat and a wall outside the fortress. However, in the 2nd half of the 15th century, the wall collapsed because of the weak foundations on the artificial embankment. In the 2nd half of the 15th century or at the beginning of the 16th century the castle became the property of the Sunnegh family and underwent total reconstruction. New objects were added to the stronghold, forming a part of the so called Upper Castle. The wall itself was surrounded from the inside by the buildings that constituted the Lower Castle. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, under the rule of the Sunneghs, further reconstruction ensued. Since the main function of the castle changed from the defensive into an administrative one, the castle was renovated in the Baroque style. The most important reconstruction works took place in the 19th and 20th centuries, when it belonged to its last owners – the Csáky family. During the fire in 1849, the southern and western parts of the Baroque palace were destroyed, and in result pulled down. Budatín belonged to the Csáky family until 1945. In 1956, its premises became a part of the Museum of Považie.
