In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1113. Its castle Zniev was built by Andrew Hont-Pázmány. From 1242 to 1249 the castle was the seat of king Béla IV of Hungary. Around the half of the 13th century, the settlement got town privileges as the first one in the Turiec region, but it lost them in 1666 during at the times of Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
In the second half of the 19th century, Kláštor pod Znievom became one of the centres of Slovak national movement, as one of three Slovak high schools was opened here in 1869, but was closed down in 1874 as a result of the Magyarization policy. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Kláštor pod Znievom was part of Turóc County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic.
^ abcd"Základná charakteristika". www.statistics.sk (in Slovak). Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
^ ab"Hustota obyvateľstva - obce". www.statistics.sk (in Slovak). Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2008-01-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Municipal Statistics from the Statistical Office of the Slovak republic
Genealogical resources
The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Bytca, Slovakia"
Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1653-1896 (parish A)
Lutheran church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1783-1928 (parish B)