A castle and a woman:

The community of Liptovský Hrádok originated in the early 18th century near a location where salt, copper and iron were stored. Forest workers and state clerks founded here a community called Mravník which later developed into an important market place of the Horný Liptov region. In the second half of the 18th century numerous manufacturing, including wood production and forestry (sawmills, raft ports, etc.) were founded here and shaped the economic life of the region. In 1768 even a forestry school was opened here by Franz Wissner von Morgenstern, a forestry prefect of the estate. It was the only school of its kind in Old Hungary to teach in the Slovak, German, Latin, and Hungarian Ianguages. Tuition was based on a previously prepared "forest catechism". Also the newly established iron and smelting works which together with the forest-technical buildings laid down the foundations of the town, and have joined the prospering and rapidly growing wood processing plants.

Hámor, maša and the armament works:

In 1792 the people of Hrádok built a hammermill, processing copper ore and a blast furnace called maša. The copper ore and forged copper plates were transported by rafts down the river Váh. lron ore was weighed in a weighing station and also processed in a blast furnace. About 70 experts from Germany brought here for their expertise participated in the production of iron. They beonged to a group of royal workers who were dressed in uniforms with a complementary salary. As the iron produced here was of top guality, an armament works was built in Liptovský Hrádok in 1804 to 1805 where rifles, pistols and carbines were made. Yearly about 24 thousand pieces of good guality armaments were produced here.

The community which assumed the name of the local castle, had by the end of the 18th century been promoted to a town, with market and fair rights from 1805. This little town simultaneously became the basis for rafting on the river Váh. HaIfrafts that were later joined to proper rafts near Ružomberok were made here, goods (iron, salt, copper, cheese) was transported on the Váh and even up stream on the river Danube to Vienna. Other new plants and works originated and finally Liptovský Hrádok became the centre of the Slovak wood processing industry. In 1851 a forest office which assumed the administration of the properties was established and in the locality Na Maši, a blast furnace and workshop producing wood, wool and wooden pipes was formerly opened in the mid-19th century. An important event in the life of the local population was the construction of the Košice-Bohumín railway track in the 1870's. Consequently a new social group was born - the railwaymen. They participated, together with workers and bricklayers in the workers' movement instigating strikes that resulted in the partial improvement of their social situation. Liptovský Hrádok was also the centre of anti-Nazi resistance in the region of Horný Liptov and the place of numerous operations by partisans. After the liberation, the renovation of the town started and a new electrotechnical plant was opened here. The revival of the tradition of wood-processing brought further industrial promotion. The symbols of wood and hammer are reftected also in the coat of arms of the town. Its very favourable position near the Nízke Tatry mountains, at the confluence of two rivers, together with an attractive natural setting have, in addition, predestined Liptovský Hrádok to become a centre of water sports and tourism.

As far as the secular, cultural and historical monuments are concerned, besides the Gothic castle compound from the 14th century and the Renaissance manor house, with fortifications from the 17th century, there is also the belfry and weighing station from 1792 which have been preserved. These are located in the area called Podjaková between Liptovský Hrádok and Kráľova Lehota. The prismoid building of the belfry has a Baroque-Classicist facade and a castellated copula. The building of the weighing station is oblong in shape with a space for passing carts and the weighing process. The history of the town is reminded by the Classicist single-floor houses of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries rimmed by a protected lime alley and a Classicist building of the former school of forestry. Sacral monuments include the Classicist Roman-Catholic church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary from 1790 with original interior from the same time. The victims of anti-Nazi resistance and the two world wars are immortalised by commemorative boards and a monument to the war dead.

In the immediate vicinity of the castle is a park called Hradocké arborétum, a protected study area of 7.2 hectares with numerous foreign wood species. Also the nature reserve Balvan pri Maši situated east of the town on the left bank of the river Váh is worth seeing. It is the remains of a rocky limestone terrace.

Part of the town is also the municipal locality north-east of the centre, originally an independent community, called Dovalovo. It was probably founded in the 13th century around an Early-Gothic church and it belonged to the castle Hrádok estate. Its inhabitants were mostly farmers and carters, and they also made their living by lime burning, carpentry and bricklaying. Until almost the second half of the 20th century it was also the home of the manufacturing of linen, wool cloth, carpets and utensils used in sheep-keeping. Dovalovo is dominated by the Early-Gothic Roman-Catholic St. Martin church from the second half of the 13th century. In 1610 it was restored in Renaissance style and later altered in Baroque and Classicist styles. In the Baroque interior of the church an Early-Gothic window and fragments of Gothic wall paintings are preserved. The original Late Gothic parts of the altars are deposited in museums in the towns of Martin and Budapest. Sacral buildings include the Classicist Evangelical church from 1857 with valuable paintings of Christ on Mount of Olives and of Martin Luther by Peter Bohúň.

Moving on from Liptovský Hrádok, passing Dovalovo in north-easterly direction, one arrives at LIPTOVSKÁ KOKAVA (787 m, population 1,150). The community was built by the serfs of Dovalovo probably in the first half of the 15th century. A century later though it did not exist and had to be repopulated again by the late 16th century. It is one of the youngest villages around Liptovský Hrádok. Because of favourable natural conditions, the population lived mainly from agriculture, sheep raising, logging, colliery, cartage, and home made linen up until the Second World War. There used to exist also an iron hammer-mill in the community. The main architectural monuments include the Classicist Roman-Catholic church of St. Šimon and Júda with Baroque interior (built in 1830 on the site of an older wooden church) and a Neo-Romanesque Evangelical church from 1923. In the territory of the community is also a nature reserve Machy, a locality with peat communities over an area of almost 26 hectares.

At the northern edge of Liptovský Hrádok there are four communities. Closest to the town is LIPTOVSKÝ PETER (681 m, population 1,400). It was for the first time referred to in 1286 and bears the name of the patron saint of the local Gothic church. In 1363 the community, belonging to the family of Szentiványi was granted market privileges and since then it developed as a squire townlet. Later it was repeatedly destroyed and fell to the level of a serf village. Besides agriculture, the local population lived off local crafts and the men were bricklayers. For instance, every fifth man in the community was a bricklayer in the second half of the 19th century. It is no accident that Liptovský Peter was the first village to have all its houses made of bricks in the Liptov region. As the old Gothic church completely disappeared, the only sacral monuments are the Evangelical church of 1940 standing on the site of an older church and a belfry of 1850.

Nearly Liptovský Peter, in a north-westerly direction is the community of JAMNÍK (695 m, population 400). It was first mentioned in 1346 and as its name suggests (jama means hole) that it actually originated in a hole. Legend has it that there were large holes in Jamník used by the local people to catch game. This squire community belonged to the squires of Podtureň until as late as 1848. The local population were mostly farmers; sheep-keeping was another common occupation and since the end of the 19th century they were also good bricklayers as proved by the Classicist and fin-de-siécle houses from the late 19th century. Supplementing occupations were linen weaving and the manufacturing of utensils used in sheep-keeping. The only sacral monument here is the Evangelical church of 1907. There used to exist a community called Sv. Duch in the territory of Jamník but it disappeared in 1709 during the battles between rebels and the imperial troops.