Slovakia · 16th century
Šaľa Castle ranks #8,990 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #132 of the 135 mapped in Slovakia. Founded c. 1550, it is older than 36% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 887 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Nitra, 24 km away. See how Slovakia compares in the castle statistics.
In the Middle Ages the Bohemian road (Via Bohemica) led this way. Béla IV granted Vágsellye and its surroundings to the Premonstratensian monastery of Turóc. In 1522 the settlement received privileges from Uriel Majthényi, provost of Turóc. In 1536 Ferdinand I raised it to the rank of market town. In 1586 the town passed to the Jesuits, who in 1598 moved their college here from Znióváralja. The Jesuit college operated in the town until 1604; it ceased during the Bocskai uprising.
A water castle once stood at Vágsellye. In its place a Renaissance fortified castle was built in the 16th century to plans by Kilián Syroth of Milan, on the model of the Thurzó family's mansion at Nagybiccse. Its importance grew after the fall of Esztergom, when it was incorporated into the surrounding system of border fortresses. Vágsellye was a favourite place of residence of Archbishop Péter Pázmány, who completed the construction of the castle. In 1663, after the fall of Érsekújvár, the castle too fell into Turkish hands, remaining so until 1686. After the Turkish devastation of 1661 and 1663, only 30 of the town's 300 houses remained. In 1692 the settlement received the right to hold fairs. The castle's present form is dominated by the Baroque style.
Since 1963 it has been a National Monument (NKP). In 1972 the renovation of the castle began. The external renovation of the building was carried out in 1999. In 2007 the renewed renovation of the archive (castle) began.
At present the branch archive of the Bratislava State Archive of the Slovak Ministry of the Interior is located in the building. The institution, founded in 1952, initially operated as the District Archive of Vágsellye, which from 1960 also became the archive of the Galánta district and from 1964 of the Dunaszerdahely district. It preserves approximately 5,080 running metres of archival material.
Machine-translated from “Reneszánsz várkastély (Vágsellye)” on the Hungarian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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