Pezinok Castle Audio guide

A Renaissance residence with medieval roots

Pezinok Castle stands not far from the town centre, in the castle park at the southeastern foothills of the Little Carpathians. Its present form is the result of a long evolution that began before 1271, when a moated fortress was established here, protected by two ditches fed by the Cajla Stream. Drawbridges crossed the water defences, and farm buildings stood on the embankment between the moats.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the castle was part of the estates of the Counts of Svaty Jur and Pezinok. Their family gradually split into two branches, and property disputes continued for a long time, as shown by the division of 1401 and the subsequent disagreements lasting until 1429. In the sixteenth century, a major rebuilding followed when the castle was pledged to Ivan Krusic in 1575 and then remodelled by Stefan Ileshazi in the Renaissance style.

From fortress to noble residence

In the seventeenth century, the building fell into decline, but in 1718 it was repaired at the order of Jan Palfi. Further alterations came in the nineteenth century, especially after 1875, when part of the complex acquired a Romantic and Neo-Renaissance character. At that time, the garden was also transformed into an English park with valuable trees. A fire in 1875 destroyed the northern service section, while the southern wing was rebuilt for representative use.

Today’s visitors can admire sensitively restored historic interiors, a grand hall with paintings by the Pezinok painters of the Barto family, a castle winery in the cellars, and a park with a pond. Despite all its rebuilding, the castle has preserved an exceptionally valuable reminder of a medieval moated fortress, something now very rare in Slovakia.