Upper Hron River (Horehronie), castles

The town castle was once formed by several ancient buildings in the central Slovakian metropolis Banská Bystrica. Its task was to protect the income proceedings of copper and silver mining for the royal treasury. The town castle was built gradually. The parish church was built as the first structure in the 13th century and fortifications were added to it in the 15th century. Earth ramparts and palisades were later replaced by tall stone walls fortified by bastions and a water dike. In the 16th century, the Turkish threat called for further fortifications. Only a quarter of the original town...

The water castle is the oldest preserved structure in the village of Hronsek. This Gothic-Renaissance building dates from the 14th century. At the end of the 16th century, it was rebuilt and fortified against Turkish raids. The building had a fortification consisting of a defensive wall with four towers and a moat with a drawbridge. The castle belonged to the Géczyovsk family, later it was also owned by other noble families. Later, the Water Castle was used for evangelical services, the cellars were once used as a prison and during the Rákoczio uprising (at the beginning of the 18th century)...