Within its area, you can find over a hundred strongholds and castles and at least twice as many palaces, built in different historical eras. In the past, they were the scene of many historical events, and their owners decided the fate of the country for centuries. Particularly in the Baroque period, they included elegant gardens and parks, and landowners' manors can still be found in almost every Slovak commune. Spiš Castle (the largest castle complex in Central Europe) with the surrounding monuments was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993.
