This is the youngest of the three Liptov castles, built before 1341 by the Count Donč on the site of the yeoman guard settlement of Belsko. To this day, it has retained the original layout of the two-tower castle core with a centrally locate palace. In the 15th century, it fell into the hands of the Hussites and was damaged. At some point around the 16th century, the castle was expanded; an external Renaissance fortification with corner bastions was added. The castle acquired its definitive form in the early 17th century under the couple Mikuláš Šándorffy and Magdaléna Zai, who are credited with constructing a Renaissance manor house in the western and northern parts of the forecourt. In the 18th century, the castle and manor house in Liptovský Hrádok became the model centre of the united Likava-Hrádok chamberlain estate, specialising in the economic use of the local forest wealth, the processing of base metals and the trade in salt.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the entire complex of buildings burned down; the Gothic castle core, unlike the manor house, was not restored, and in 1933 it was only preserved.
The chamber office, prison and district court were then located in the area of the castle and manor house in Liptovsky Hradok, and since 1959 it also housed the Ethnographic Museum of Liptov (today part of the Liptov Museum in Ružomberok). In 2002, the devastated and dilapidated monument was purchased by a private owner, who reconstructed it into its current form.
In the 16th century, Liptovský Hrádok Castle was a favourite residence of the most important poet of Renaissance Hungary – Bálint Balassi – who sought inspiration for his poetry here and lived the most beautiful period of his life under the silhouette of the Tatra Mountains.

Did you know…?
A legend of the castle tells the sad story of a Hussite bride – the daughter of the castle lord – who lost her life because of her father’s opposition to the man chosen by her heart, a Hussite hetman.