The territory was royal possession from the 11th century. The centre was Patak, originally built at a ford on river Bodrog. According to Péter Perényi’s letters, he built a new family seat here between 1534 and 1541. The southern part of the medieval town was surrounded by a wall and a moat. At its south-eastern angle, a large, five-storey quadrate keep was built.

The loop-holes and joining of the walls prove that the keep and the town walls were constructed at the same time. The castle was built in late- renaissance style, under the guidance of the North-Italian architect, Alessandro Vedani. The Romanesque and the Gothic carving fragments are remains of the former Dominic monastery and the fortified castle. The eastern, “Perényi” wing was built between 1540 and 1567. After 1567, the Royal Chambre, later the Dobó family and from 1608 on, Mihály Lorántffy dominated and continued the constructions of the castle.

1616 was a turning point. Zsuzsanna Lorántffy married to György Rákóczi I, prince of Transsylvania, thus Patak became the princely centre of the Rákóczi possession and turned into a bridge joining Transylvania and the royal Hungary. From 1640 on, the new possessors expanded the castle: the southern, “Lorántffy” wing, the loggia and the cannon emplacement were built. From 1660, Ferenc Rákóczi I and his mother Zsófia Báthory, from 1676 Ferenc Rákóczi II were the proprietors of the castle. In 1670, the imperial troops occupied the castle, despite this, Patak remained the centre of the “Kuruc” movement, as Ilona Zrinyi and her second husband spent most of their time their time in the castle. In 1697, the town was one of the main centres of the Hegyalja upraising.

During the Rákóczi war of independence, in 1708, the “villain liberating diet” was held here. After the war of independence, the possession of the castle was passed to Duke Trautsohn, who renovated the castle stricken by conflagrations in Baroque style. Between 1776 and 1807, the castle was possession of the royal Chambre, later on it passed to the Bretzenheim family. They renovated the castle, which obtained its present Romatique and Eclectic façade then, but preserved its Renaissance character. The castle became the possession of duke Windischgrätz in 1875. The castle has been the part of the national heritage since 1945. The Museum has been looking after the Rákóczi heritage since 1950.