The city of Zloczów (ukr. Золочів) is situated on the Zloczivka River, in the Voroniak and Gologory hill ranges. Today, it is the capital of the Zloczow District in the Lviv Region of Ukraine. The village appears in written sources for the first time in the 12th century. During the reign of Władysław Jagiełło, it was a royal village. In 1442, Złoczów was in the hands of Jan of Sienna. The Sienieńskis erected the first, probably wooden, defensive stronghold ("fortalitium") in Złoczów, mentioned in written sources from the first half of the 16th century. In 1523, the town was granted Magdeburg city rights by Sigismund I the Old. In 1532 Władysław Sieniński sold the town "cum foratlitio" to the Górki family. In 1592, Złoczów was purchased by Marek Sobieski, Grand Warrant Officer of the Crown (later also Voivode and Castellan of Lublin). The bastion castle that exists today was built in 1634-1636 by Jakub Sobieski, father of the future king of Poland, Jan Sobieski. After the Sobieskis, the castle was ruled by the Radziwiłłs, and in 1801 Złoczów, together with the neglected and ruined castle, was purchased by Count Lukasz Komarnicki. He restored the building and made it his main residence.

The castle is situated on a hill in the south-eastern part of the town. It was built according to the fortification principles of the Old Dutch school. It was founded on a quadrilateral ground plan with four pentagonal bastions in the corners. Access to the fortress was defended by a deep moat. The fortifications, made of earth, had stone mantling in the lower parts, with the corners accentuated with blows. In the corners of the bastions, hexagonal cavalry (watchtowers) were erected, with shooting holes and shields of the Sobieski family coat of arms from the foreground. The whole was strengthened by additional earth fortifications and a ravelin in front of the castle gate. In the axis of the northern curtain there was a two-storey gate building, accessible through a drawbridge over the moat. From the outside, the entrance was decorated with a rusticated portal, flanked by prominent volutes, with a lion's head in the archivolt key. A slab (now in the courtyard) with the inscription was placed above the headpiece: "Sub Tuum Praesidium Confugimus Santa Dei Gentrix" ("Under your protection we take refuge, Holy Mother of God"). The whole was crowned by a strongly profiled cornice. Casemates were placed in the ramparts on the courtyard side, serving as housing for the crew and as storage facilities in case of a siege. By the western curtain stood the palace, founded on the plan of an elongated quadrilateral, two-storeyed, rusticated in the corners. The ground floor rooms, which included a chapel, were vaulted. The stone entrance portal was framed with Corinthian pilasters and crowned with a prominent beam. The window frames, rusticated on the ground floor with a simple lintel and triangular pediments on the ground floor, were also made of stone. In the courtyard there were outbuildings and a well. Near the gate stood the powder magazine building.

Jan Sobieski renovated the castle, devastated during the Cossack wars. Złoczów, along with Żółkwi and Jaworów, was one of the favourite residences of Jan III, already as king of Poland. In 1672, during the Polish-Turkish War, the castle was captured and garrisoned by a Turkish crew. However, it was soon returned to its rightful owner. In 1675, the fortress successfully resisted Tartar attacks. In 1690, an enemy czambul surprised Jan III, who was staying in the castle, but this time, too, the castle fortifications withstood the assault. During the reign of King Jan, the earthen fortifications of the fortress and the ravelin in front of the castle gate were reinforced. A two-storey rotunda was built at the southern curtain of the castle, topped with a cupola with a gallery (the so-called Chinese pavilion), decorated with shields of the Janina coat of arms. In the 18th century, two side, single-storey pavilions were added to the building. During the reign of John III, the castle gardens were also renovated.

After the king's death, the castle was inherited by his sons: Konstanty and then Jakub. After Jakub Sobieski's death, the castle passed into the hands of his daughter, the "princess" Maria Karolina Sobieska. Before her death in 1740, Maria Karolina appointed Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł 'Rybeńka', her youthful sweetheart, as her main heir. However, the Radziwills did not care for the now unfashionable defensive residence. By the end of the 18th century, the building was devastated and already leaning towards ruin. The castle was saved from destruction by Count Lukas Komarnicki, but his son, Alexander, leased the building to the Austrian government for use as barracks. In 1872, the partitioning authorities purchased the castle from Alexander's successors. The palace building housed the county court and prison, while the so-called Chinese pavilion became the prison chapel. In this state, the castle survived until the First World War. After the end of World War I, a tragic period in the history of the residence began, as many bloody events soon took place within the castle walls. During the Polish-Ukrainian War over Eastern Galicia (1918-1919), the castle was again turned into a prison, where Ukrainians murdered several dozen Poles. During the Second Republic, the building also served as a penitentiary. After 17 September 1939, the prison was taken over by the NKVD, which held Polish and Ukrainian opponents of the new authorities there. In connection with the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, on 22 June 1941, the NKVD massacred the inmates of the Zlocczow prison, burying the bodies of the victims, among others, in the castle courtyard. The złoczów prison massacre served as a pretext for a pogrom against Jews accused of collaborating with the NKVD. The castle was also the site of executions of Złoczów's Jewish population carried out by the Germans (including on 4 July 1941).

The residence was used as a prison until 1954, and in 1979 the monument was renovated, after which it was allocated for museum purposes. Further renovation work took place in the first decade of the 21st century. At present, the castle is the seat of the State Museum-Reserve "Zlochov Castle", which is a branch of the Lviv Art Gallery. The so-called Chinese pavilion, on the other hand, houses the Museum of Eastern Cultures.