Originally a hunting castle, with its permanent specialized exhibition of Housing Culture of the Nobility in the 18th and 19th Century, the Castle Betliar has belonged to the administration of the Slovak National Museum – Museum Betliar since 1996. From the point of view of attractiveness, it belongs to the most visited ones and from the point of view of monument preservation, it belongs to the most preserved cultural historical monuments of Slovakia. It has been included into the network of Slovak museums since 1952. The origins of the castle history date back to the first half of the 15th century and they are connected with the Hungarian family of Bebek. František Bebek built a small fortification in the period of the approaching Turkish threat. The greatest construction for the castle was noted in the period of the Transylvanian-Hungarian noble family of Andrássy which played an important part not only in the life of Gemer but the entire Hungary. The castle experienced several reconstructions over some centuries. The biggest and most extensive was the reconstruction of 1880 – 1886 under the control of the count Emanuel Andrássy and the castle obtained its present look. Previous owners furnished the castle with luxury and gathered a lot of works of art and craft there creating a present-day precious artistic and historic collection fund of the museum. What is really valuable is the movables of the exhibit of domestic and foreign provenance dated in the 16th to 19th centuries. Interiors are supplemented with gallery collections, ceramics collections, china and porcelain from various European manufactures. The greatest treasure of the Betliar Castle is the historical library founded by the count Leopold Andrássy in the mid-18th century. It currently contains 15 000 volumes of historic literature. Around the Castle there is a large natural and landscape historic park with the area of 57 ha which belongs to the most preserved and most precious parks in Slovakia. The park was included by the international committee ICOMOS/IFLA (International Council on Monuments and Sites) into the list of artistically and culturally valuable parks of the world recorded by UNESCO in 1978. In 1988 – 1994 the Castle was reconstructed as far as building and interior. In 1994 it was awarded the prestigious international award EUROPA NOSTRA for its example monument conservation.
Eva Lázárová