Castle Budatínsky zámok in Žilina

You're standing at Budatín Castle, just outside Žilina in north-western Slovakia. Have a look at the water around you. Right here the Kysuca river flows into the Váh, and that's no coincidence. Whoever guarded this spot could collect tolls on everything passing by. That's why a watch castle was built here in the second half of the thirteenth century.