History of the Castle Site

The oldest evidence of settlement comes from the New Stone Age, 5th millennium BC. In the Bronze Age, there was the upland settlement with wooden-clay fortification in the existing castle site. In the Iron Age, the Celts lived here for circa one hundred years; however, their settlement was destroyed by German tribes. During the 1st century, Devín was included in the Limes Romanus defence system; the presence of Romans is proven by the remains of several buildings. It is documented that the area was more intensely inhabited in the 9th century in the Great Moravia period, when the Devín hillfort was the administration and power centre of the area. The medieval stone castle built in the second half of the 13th century was intended to protect the western border of the Kingdom of Hungary. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Garay family became the owners of the castle who had extended fortification and reconstructed the upper castle in the representation form. In 1460, the counts of Svätý Jur and Pezinok became the owners of the castle and from 1527, both the castle and the land were owned by Štefan Báthory, the Palatine of Hungary. In the 17th century, Devín witnessed several anti-Habsburg uprisings as well as conflicts between the inhabitants of Devín and castle owners. The Pálffy family were the last owners of the castle who sold its ruins to the state in 1932. In the 60s of the 20th century, the castle was designated a national cultural heritage and the Bratislava City Museum became its administrator.