Budatín Castle, Medieval castle at river confluence in Žilina, Slovakia.

Budatín Castle stands on a rocky spur above the confluence of the Váh and Kysuca rivers in the Budatín district of Žilina. Its core is a massive round residential tower of stone, whose footprint survives and forms the castle's silhouette. A defensive wall, built under Matthew III Csák, still traces the perimeter on all but the south side, and the 1551 Renaissance remodelling added rhythmically articulated façades and an arcaded courtyard.

Built in the second half of the 13th century as a royal guard castle at a toll ford on the Váh and Kysuca, it passed to Matthew III Csák in the early 14th century, who walled the round tower and added a palace. Gáspár Szunyogh acquired it in 1487; his family held it until 1798, then the Csákys until 1945. Imperial troops burned it in January 1849; after repairs it served as barracks, and the 1922–1923 reconstruction gave its present look.

The Považie Museum, based here, holds a large collection of wirework products, a regional speciality, alongside period interiors and sacral collections of the 18th and 19th centuries. Exhibitions cover prehistoric north-western Slovakia and the history of Žilina from 1208 to 1848. A legend of a walled-up princess, tied to Katarína Suňogová, is often retold in literature.

The castle stands on a rocky spur above the confluence of the Váh and Kysuca rivers in the Budatín district, reachable from Žilina by local transport toward Budatín. The grounds and park reopened in September 2010, the tower on 13 July 2014 and the chapel with most interiors in August 2016. Parts of the site were closed for reconstruction between 2008 and 2013, so check current access before travelling.

The castle park was reduced by the construction of the Košice-Bohumín Railway in the 1870s and by parceling after World War II, and it stayed unmaintained for a long period. It was revitalized and opened to the public in September 2010. A legend about a walled-in princess, Catherine Szunyogh, is often retold in literature.