During the reign of Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, a German settlement existed on the site. A royal hunting lodge was built on the hill, and the town was named for it: Királyháza, its original Hungarian name that was later translated to the Slavic Korolev, literally means "king's house". In the 14th century a stone castle named Nyalab was built on the site of the hunting lodge. In 1672 the castle was destroyed.