Lietava Castle was built after 1241 along the Amber Road, a trade route between Europe and Asia, most likely as an administrative and military center. The Balas family is thought to have built its four-story tower. In the early fourteenth century it was mentioned in connection with Máté Csák III, a powerful Hungarian magnate.
The Thurzó family gained the castle in the sixteenth century and carried out a Gothic-Renaissance reconstruction. It added coats of arms, Renaissance portals, grand fireplaces, fortifications and a military garrison. After Imre Thurzó died in 1621, the castle was divided among his heirs, and ownership disputes in 1641 led them to lose interest.
A report of 1698 described it as uninhabited, containing only an archive. The archive moved to Orava Castle in the 1760s, and the castle was abandoned. A non-profit organization now conserves it, and a 30-minute walk reaches it from the village.
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