Between about 1760 and 1770 the archive was moved out of Lietava to Orava Castle, and with it went the last practical reason to keep a roof on anything here. From then on the castle was abandoned to the weather, which in a limestone crest with hard winters is a fast worker: rain gets into the wall core, freezes, and levers the stones apart from the inside. Lietava is a rare thing among Slovak ruins in that no army and no fire ever defeated it. It was destroyed by inheritance law, and then by frost.Približne v rokoch 1760 – 1770 previezli archív z Lietavy na Oravský hrad a s ním zmizol posledný praktický dôvod držať tu na čomkoľvek strechu. Odvtedy bol hrad ponechaný napospas počasiu, a to je na vápencovom hrebeni s tvrdými zimami veľmi rýchly pracovník: dažďová voda sa dostane do jadra muriva, zamrzne a rozpáči kamene zvnútra. Lietava je medzi slovenskými zrúcaninami vzácnym prípadom — neporazilo ju nijaké vojsko ani požiar. Zničilo ju dedičské právo a potom mráz.
