Zborov Castle or Makovica is a castle ruin near the village of Zborov in the Bardejov district. The oldest written record of the castle dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. The castle changed owners several times – the Cudar, the Rozgonyi, the Tárczay, the Serédy and the Rákoczi family. The original royal Gothic castle consisted of a courtyard of roughly triangular ground plan with a defensive wall, a prismatic tower (donjon), a palace and a chapel. The lower courtyard was divided by walls, thus allowing for a better control of access to the middle courtyard. Later on, farm buildings were built next to the castle walls in the western part of the castle. The Renaissance modifications based on Italian models improved the outdated and unsatisfactory fortification system and created a comfortable mansion meeting the most demanding housing requirements of that time. The Rákoczi family, who owned the castle in the 17th century, took good care of the castle. In the second half of the 17th century, however, the family moved to the manor house in Zborov. The castle ruins were severely damaged during World War I. The castle hill was declared a protected area already in 1926. In 1950 it was declared a state nature reserve, one of the oldest protected areas in Slovakia. The protection efforts focus mainly on massive, several-hundred-year-old summer oaks planted along the access road to the castle.
