Smolenice Castle stands on the eastern slope of the Little Carpathians. It was built in the fifteenth century and was destroyed during Rákóczi's War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars. Count János Pálffy inherited it in 1777 but did not live in the castle, which was in poor condition.
Count József Pálffy ordered the twentieth-century rebuilding. Jozef Hubert designed the new castle, using Kreuzenstein Castle near Vienna as a model, and Pavol Reiter supervised the works. The main building has two wings and a tower, and it is made of ferroconcrete. Masters from Italy, Germany, Austria and Hungary worked on it, along with 60 workmen from nearby villages.
The castle was damaged in 1945. Since June 26, 1953, it has belonged to the Slovak Academy of Sciences. It is a conference center, open to the public only in July and August.
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