Although the castle was open to the public, the area surrounding it constituted a restricted military zone and was heavily fortified with watchtowers and barbed wire.

[1] Separated from the main castle, it balances perilously on a lone rock and has spawned countless legends concerning imprisoned lovelorn daughters leaping to their deaths.

Devín, Divín, Devinka, Divino, Dzivín, and similar Slavic names can be interpreted as watchtowers or observation points.

On the other hand, the identification of Dowina with Devín Castle has been under debate[4] based on alleged linguistic arguments and the absence of convincing archaeologic evidence.

[6] Its rare style is closest to churches from Dalmatia and Noricum, from the areas with a persisting tradition of late antique and Byzantine architecture.

[10] In the 13th century, a stone castle was built to protect the western frontier of the Hungarian Kingdom whose existence was documented in 1271, and a reference to a castelanus de Devin appeared in 1326.

The Castle was never taken, but after the Hungarian Kingdom joined the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottomans were finally defeated, it ceased to be an important border fortress and was no longer used by the military.

[12] Since the 19th century as its history inspired several Romantic poets and followers of Ľudovít Štúr, Devín became an important national symbol for the Slovaks.

Archaeological works at the site have revealed the remains of a Roman tower dating from the 1st century AD and evidence of a prehistoric settlement.