The town of Želiezovce

History

However, numerous archaeological finds indicate that this area was inhabited much earlier. Manifestations of Neolithic culture from the period 4300 - 3900 BC, whose site extends to western Hungary, adjacent Austria, southern Moravia, southern and southeastern Poland and Spiš, are referred to worldwide by the term Želiezovská skupina. Their decisive part was discovered at the turn of the 19th - 20th century and after its discovery it was stored in Želiezovce, as a collection of the wife of Ján Kherndl, the administrator of Želiezovce's property, Count Augustín Breunner. Later, this archeological collection got to the National Museum in Bratislava.
Traces of Roman military camps have been found in the vicinity of Želiezovce, documenting Roman expansion to the north. It is likely that somewhere nearby in the winter in r. In 173 AD, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius camped during the battles with the Quadi living here, where he wrote the first book (chapter) of the work Ta eis haueton (Talks to Himself, published in Slovak as Thoughts to Himself). At the end of it is a note that it was "written in the land of Kvádov nad Granou". From the above, it is clear that Želiezovce have been in contact with various civilizations and cultures for several millennia.
After the Tartar invasions and the gradual stabilization of the situation, the life story of Juraj Becsei Vesszös Želiezovský became decisive for the further history of Želiezovce. He was one of the three sons of Imrich Becsei, the lord of the castle in Levice and the mayor of Tekov. In 1330, a royal family and a court, Felicián Zách, tried to murder the royal family of Karol Róbert during a gala feast at Visegrád Castle. His attack, in which he cut off the fingers of the queen and wounded the king, meant death not only for him (he was killed by the castle guard immediately after the attack), but also by decision of the monarch for his entire family, throughout the Kingdom of Hungary. His daughter Šebe, who lives in Levice, was executed in public at the Levice market by Imrich Becsey, who thus strengthened his already considerable influence on the royal court. This was a promising career for his three sons. The middle of them was Juraj Becsei, who also wrote Vesszös Želiezovský to the menu with his descendants.
He was in favor of King Louis the Great, son and successor of Charles Robert. He inherited the rank of castle captain and Tekov county governor from his father. He lived alternately in Želiezovce and Buda. After the brother of Louis the Great, Andrei living in southern Italy, was murdered by his wife Johanna, he set out to avenge this act with Louis the Great as a member of the royal bodyguard. It was on January 23, 1348 in Naples that he personally executed a participant in the murder - Prince Charles of Durazzo, when Johanne managed to escape to France. In return, he was appointed king by the king as Apulia, and for a time became the lord of several towns and castles in southern Italy.
During his stay in sunny Apulia, he seized large property and killed (as he himself says) about 220 people and committed a number of other crimes. He transported his property, consisting mainly of gold and jewelery, to Buda under royal protection. However, the transport of gold to Želiezovce was risky for a small group of militants. However, a stone block - a sarcophagus, quickly secured from the Buda Aquikum, from which he first removed the body of veteran II, helped him as a hiding place. auxiliary legion Aelia Domitia.
Over time, under the weight of difficult memories, Juraj Becsei Vesszös Želiezovský came to the need for deep repentance for the deeds performed. His decision was undoubtedly exacerbated by problems with the papacy, which reacted to his crimes in southern Italy with great reluctance. In Želiezovce, on the site of the original wooden church, he had a new church built, and the aforementioned sarcophagus was placed in its center. At the same time, he set out on an unusually long and painful penitential pilgrimage to northern Spain, to the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostella to the remains of St. James. Even after six months of repentance, prayer, and humble fasting, he did not feel relieved for his soul. He therefore went as far as Ireland, where he was the first pilgrim from Hungary to enter the Caves of St. Patrick's Day. After 15 days of strict fasting and prayer, despite the persecution of the Irish bishop, he decided to descend into the dreaded cave purgatory - the purgatory of St. Patrick's Day. Prayers, inhaling smoke and sulfur gases, hallucinations, the revelation of the devil, the archangel Michael to find a way to eternal salvation ...
After his death in 1364, his daughter Margita continued to build the church in Želiezov and around 1390 he had Italian masters Matúš paint wall paintings - frescoes. In the 16th century, the Church of St. For less than 200 years, Jacob was handed over to Protestants, who removed all paintings, statues and other "objects of unnecessary luxury" from churches. The wall frescoes were smeared with white lime milk and the Roman sarcophagus mysteriously disappeared. In April 1729, the ownership of the Želiezov estate was established, when almost all ownership rights to the Esterházy family passed with final effect. They gradually began to build a network of mayors in the area, which they later named by the first names of their family members.
In June 1730, the church managed to return the church to Catholic believers. One of the first pastors, Jakub Bartoš, decided to build a crypt under the church, in which the bodies of local clergy would be placed. While digging a pit in the middle of the church, the workers came across a forgotten Roman sarcophagus, which the Protestants had buried there almost 200 years ago. And so, for the second time, it became part of the central landmark of the Želiezov Catholic Church in the form of the base of the main altar.
The Esterházy family had a four-winged Baroque mansion built on the site of the original country manor, the construction was completed around 1780. As they mostly stayed in Vienna, they used it more or less than their summer residence. The manor house included a large English park with several other buildings. With further reconstructions, elements of classicism began to appear on the manor house.
One of the most dominant members of the family, Ján Karol Esterházy (1775 - 1834), brought economic prosperity to Želiezovce. It was he and his wife Rozina Esterházy (1779 - 1854) who invited the young composer Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) as a music teacher for his daughters Maria and Karolína.
Schubert lived in Želiezovce in 1818 and 1824 and it was here that he found many valuable sources of inspiration for his work. He dedicated several of his compositions to the continent of Karolína Esterházy, to which he was secretly in love. One of them is the well-known Octet in F major.
Count Ján Karol Esterházy, as his personal chef, brought to Želiezovce the already well-known court chef, Franz Sacher, the inventor of the world-famous Sacher cake. Together with his wife, they felt good in the Želiezovské manor house. In 1834 (about 2 years after the birth of the famous cake) was born a son Eduard Sacher, later known as the founder of a chain of five-star hotels and cafes. After the already mentioned Maria Esterházy, the ownership of the manor passed into the hands of Count Breunner's family in 1854, who was the last owner of the manor until , 1944.
In 1884, during the painting of the walls of the Church of St. The shapes of long-forgotten paintings began to shine through Jakub. The then pastor Jozef Róža was sure of their artistic value, so he invited Ferencz Storn, one of the best restorers in Hungary, to Želiezovce, who restored them. It was only later that it was discovered that these were forgotten frescoes from about 1390.
In 1932, in the immediate vicinity of our city, unfortunately, one Central European rarity disappeared - a lockable room drawn in a huge oak tree about 700 years old, which comfortably could accommodate a dozen visitors sitting at a round table - the so-called Wooden mansion. It became a gust of wind, which blew the tree.
In 1904, the original church of the Reformed Church was built. During II. However, during World War II, the towers of both churches were blown up by retreating German troops. The Reformed Church was completely destroyed, the Church of St. Jakub suffered considerable damage, in 1953 it was reconstructed.
In the reconstructed church of St. Jacob can still see 3 saved frescoes from the 14th century. And it is on one of them that a special court with Juraj Becseio Vesszös Želiezovský is depicted in detail.
In the Catholic cemetery stands the tomb of the Esterházy family, built at the beginning of the 19th century, in which the pupil and at the same time the love of Franz Schubert, Karolína Esterházy, are buried. So far, there is a park with rare trees, in which stands the manor house of the Esterházy family, desperately waiting for reconstruction.

The history of Želiezovce and its surroundings is documented by the Municipal Museum and the memorial room of Franz Schubert in Želiezovce.