An inspection of the castle in 1698 recorded that it was uninhabited and that the only thing still kept in it was the archive. That single sentence is the whole story of Lietava's decline in miniature: nobody wanted to live up a rock any more, but nobody was willing to move the documents either, because the documents were the proof of who owned what. So the castle went on being maintained just enough to keep the papers dry, and no more. A building that is looked after only as a strongbox is a building already on its way out.Hradná obhliadka roku 1698 zaznamenala, že hrad je neobývaný a jediné, čo sa v ňom ešte uchováva, je archív. Tá jediná veta je celé dejiny úpadku Lietavy v skratke: hore na skale už nikto bývať nechcel, no listiny odtiaľ nikto sťahovať nechcel tiež, lebo listiny boli dôkazom, komu čo patrí. Hrad sa teda udržiaval presne natoľko, aby papiere zostali v suchu, a ani o kúsok viac. Budova, o ktorú sa niekto stará len ako o trezor, je už na ceste preč.
