SLOVENSKO	SLOVAKIA
Žilinský kraj	Žilina region
okres: Dolný Kubín

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Oravský Podzámok is situated at an elevatin 511 m on the river Orava between the Oravská Magura and Oravská vrchovina mountains, about 11 km northeast of the district town Dolný Kubín. The municipality has a population of about 1,400 (2018).

The first written record of 1267 refers to the existence of Orava Castle. The castle is mentioned in the middle of the 13th&bnsp;century, but the village under the castle probably originated later. The first written mention of "Thurzovských estates" dates from 1559. The village initially was subject only to the castle lords. It became an independent municipality in the 19th century.

Orava castle [left, no. 3697] is situated on a high rock above Orava river and the village of Oravský Podzámok. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia. The castle was built in the Kingdom of Hungary in the thirteenth century. Orava Castle stands on the site of an old wooden fortification, built after the Mongol invasion of Hungary of 1241. Its history since then reveals a familiar pattern of construction, destruction, reconstruction, fire, various ownerships and territorial squabbles. The original design was in Romanesque and Gothic style; it was later reconstructed as a Renaissance and neo-Gothic structure, hugging the shape of the 520-metre spur on which it perches. The mining magnate Thurzó family, who took charge in the mid-16th century, were responsible for a great deal of rebuilding work, although its present form was not finalised until 1611. It burned down again in 1800, after which it was no longer used as a residence. And then, after a period of dilapidation and World War II, the castle became a national monument.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oravský_Podzámok, https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oravský_Podzámok; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orava_Castle]