Zvolen

Zvolen stands at the meeting of the Hron and Slatina, below the mountains of central Upper Hungary. King Louis I built a new castle here in the later fourteenth century as a royal residence. Its four wings enclosed a courtyard, with a chapel and rooms for the court. From 1424 it formed part of the estates of Hungarian queens.

The castle became a centre of the Czech commander John Jiskra of Brandýs, who held it during the struggles over the Hungarian succession in the mid-fifteenth century. Later works added a gateway and bastions as the threat to the kingdom changed. The town beneath the castle remained a meeting place for routes through the Hron valley and towards the mining towns of the mountains.