When the castle was lost on 16 June 1554 the town went with it, and for thirty-nine years Fiľakovo was an Ottoman district capital. The parish church became a mosque that same year, a beg governed from the rock, and the taxes were assessed for Istanbul. Most people stayed — an empire needs somebody to plough, cart and pay — but they lived in a war zone where riders from both sides took cattle and captives for ransom. Imperial forces retook the castle on 27 November 1593.Keď 16. júna 1554 hrad padol, padlo s ním aj mesto a Fiľakovo bolo tridsaťdeväť rokov osmanským okresným sídlom. Farský kostol premenili ešte v tom roku na mešitu, zo skaly vládol beg a dane sa vymeriavali pre Istanbul. Väčšina ľudí zostala — ríša potrebuje niekoho, kto bude orať, voziť a platiť — no žili vo vojnovom pásme, kde si jazdci z oboch strán odvádzali dobytok aj zajatcov na výkupné. Cisárske vojská hrad získali späť 27. novembra 1593.