In 1469, the castle‘s owner became
Blažej Podmanický. After his death,
Viliam Tettauerobtained the castle, but Blažej‘s son Václav Podmanický protested against this. Subsequently,
the Nitra diocese regained the castle, and later
Michal Imrefy became its owner. In 1527, the castle fell into German hands. In 1536, the brothers
Ján and Rafael Podmanický retook Hričov Castle back from the Germans. After the death of Rafael Podmanický in 1558, the castle fell into the hands of
the royal chamber, which released it together with its estates and the town of Bytča to
Anna Likarka. Ján Kilian, who came from Milan, worked for her as an estate administrator and took care of maintenance of the castle, where he resided. Anna Likarka held Hričov and Bytča
until 1563, when this property was acquired by
František Thurzo. After the death of František Thurzo, Hričov was managed by his widow
Katarína Zrínska. In 1586, all Thurzo ‘s estates were acquired by the eldest son of František Thurzo -
George Thurzo. In 1605, the poorly guarded castle was destroyed by
Bočkay’s hajduci. Between 1617 – 1621, the Thurzo estates were administered by Georges‘s son
Imrich Thurzo and after his death by the widow after Juraj,
Elisabeth Thurzo Czobor, until 1626.
The Thurzo’s
gave little consideration to Hričov, so the abandoned castle had already begun to deteriorate throughout the 17th century. As the following decades saw no renovation, it gradually turned into
ruins. Today, a walk through them can remind us of the castle’s ancient history.
http://www.tikzilina.sk/364.1/hricov-castle/