The Castle of Mercato San Severino is the second-largest castle in Italy and was founded after 1067 by a Norman knight named Turgisio Sanseverino. The appearance of the castle today has been particularly influenced by the Angevin period. The settlement is marked by three walls: a first nucleus that includes the palatium and the so-called piazza d'armi (army square), and other rooms. The walls of the first enclosure continue south, surrounding a Franciscan convent, the village, and the corresponding church.
The second enclosure with its semicircular towers extends eastward, and it is connected to the last enclosure from the Angevin-Aragonese era, with a triangular perimeter that has a round tower at its vertex. The original size of the site was approximately 350 by 450 meters, with a total area of 157,500 square meters, equivalent to three football fields.
The third enclosure, at a lower elevation, extends eastward with a layout called 'a sperone,' and at its highest point, there is a round tower with three typical Angevin-era gun ports.
The castle was initially owned by the Sanseverino family but was eventually abandoned due to the involvement of one of its members in the Barons' Conspiracy against Ferrante. As a result, Ferrante confiscated the castle from its owners and only returned it after several years, by which time it had lost most of its military characteristics. The castle still partially preserves the chapel and the church. Saint Thomas himself visited this castle to visit his sister, Teodora, who was married to a Sanseverino. The future saint stayed at the Dominican convent. Coins, ceramics, arrowheads, and many other artifacts have been found inside the castle.
The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.