In the area of the geopark, in the Bükk Region, the towers, walls and ramparts of 16 medieval strongholds can be found.The wall ring of the wide-footed earthworks of Sály (the castle of Örsur, also mentioned by Anonymus) and that of Vár Hill in Felsőtárkány mark the beginnings, as does the most well-known and more well-preserved fortress of the mountains, the Castle of Diósgyőr.On the ancient estates of the Örsur clan, on the hill towering above the medieval settlement of Váralja, we find the residential tower of the branch of Váralja, the Latorvár, and on the Vár Hill of Kács (Tibolddaróc) the castle of the Daróc branch can be found.These small feudal castles, built in the early 19th century, were actually made up of a single residential tower surrounded by a combination of a rampart and a ditch.Odor Castle of Cserépfalu, Kecske-kő Castle, Éleskő Castle at Szilvásvárad and the castle of Gerennavár, as well as Dédes Castle at Dédestapolcsány are clearly stone castles built after the Mongol Invasion: serving passive protection, in a place that is difficult to reach, at an invulnerable height, away from the settlements.
According to tradition, king Louis the Great built a hunting castle on the rocky peak of Gerennavár.
During the Middle Ages, several monastic orders were established in the Bükk, some orders built not one monastery.The Benedictines had monasteries at Görömbölytapolca and Kács.The Abbey of the Order of Cistercians at Háromkút (Bélapátfalva) was founded by Kilit II, Bishop of Eger in 1232.The monastery church under Bél-kő still stands today and is one of the most beautiful Romanesque architectural monuments in Hungary.The Karthauzians had a monastery in the Barát Valley, north-east of Felsőtarkány.The only Hungarian-founded order, the Order of Saint Paul, settled in three places deep in the Bükk Mountains covered with ancient forest: in the vicinity of Dédes (in Szentlélek), in Diósgyőr and Felnémet (in Almár). The Pauline monastery at Szentlélek is the only medieval monument of the Bükk Plateau.
