[1] In 1598, it was inhabited by 276 taxpayer families, but in the 17th century, its population dwindled due to repeated destruction by the Imperial Army.

In 1615, the envoys of Matthias II and Gabriel Bethlen held talks in the castle about ending hostilities in the Satu Mare region.

In 1703, while Francis II Rákóczi, soon to be Prince of Transylvania, was returning from the Transylvanian campaign, he was stopped by Krisztina Barkóczi, on the orders of her husband, Sándor Károlyi, who had meanwhile sided with the Kurucs, opened the castle gates to him.

In 1847, Miklós Ybl carried out renovations for István Károlyi, and between 1893 and 1896, it was rebuilt into a seven-towered knight's castle surrounded by a moat in a neo-Gothic style, based on the designs of Arthur Meinig of Saxony.

[2] In its layout and spatial organization, it follows the representative spaces of historicism, and continues the fashion of the Loire Valley chateaux spread by Gyula Andrássy.

The current atrium was created by covering the square inner courtyard, which also appears as a two-story central hall, a characteristic of historicism.

Today it houses a city museum, an exhibition hall, a library with 80,000 volumes and a cultural center.