The park area originally designed on the principles of a nature-landscape park is enclosed by a brick fence. The shape of the park is an irregular pentagon, the manor house is located centrally. The extinct Šintava water castle was found during archaeological research in 1983-1995. Classicist mansion contains older remains of architectures. It has a renaissance bastion inside. Another interesting feature is the wooden construction of the roof, where there are large wooden beams. They are a memorial to the rafting on the Váh River, the old important transhipment station in Sered and the Slovak rafts and carpenters who left their names on the huge beams.The building is in a neglected state, but the civic association Water Castle launched in 2008 a project of restoration of the mansion and bastion - one of the defensive buildings of the former castle Šintava. Inside the bastion there are casemates of the Šintava fortress with two pairs of cannon loopholes - a massive vaulted space with three pillars. It was built of bricks in the middle of the 16th century (around 1550).After approval of the plan by the town and the monument office, work on the renovation of the oldest part of the mansion began in 2009. In 2010 they were interrupted and continued only in 2011–2013, when the interior and courtyard facade of the bastion with a new gate was restored.

At the beginning of the 10th century, Šintava was one of the targets of Old Hungarian invaders. This means that Šintava Castle, resp. the fortified settlement already existed before the arrival of the Hungarians. The mention of this has been preserved in the chronicle of the Anonymous, where in connection with the battles of the old Hungarians near Nitra it is written about the occupation of strategically important points, such as the Šintava ford. It owes its importance to its location allowing the crossing of the Váh River. This is evidenced by the settlement from the Iron Age, as well as the Great Moravian fortified settlement, protecting the passage through Váh, the basis of the later medieval water castle.

Before 1261, Šintava ceased to be the seat of the castle committee, but the castle still had an important position. In 1261, King Belo IV. it was donated to private hands and in 1326 King Charles I Robert of Anjou acquired it from Abraham Rufus, in exchange for Cheklis. From then on, the castle was a royal property administered by several castellans until 1410. One of them was the famous knight Felicián Zach, who tried to assassinate the royal family in 1330 for unknown reasons, but he did not succeed and was immediately executed. During the reign of King Louis the Great, the castle belonged to the rank of mayor of Bratislava. In 1387, when Sigismund of Luxembourg ascended the Hungarian throne, Šintava Castle became his favorite seat. He also set up his main tent here. This is evidenced by several documents written at this castle. He needed money for his military expeditions, so in 1410 Sigismund gave the castle in reserve to Mosticov of Poznań. Mostic also backed, with the consent of the king, Šintava to Count Juraj of Pezinok. During this period, Šintava Castle was the main base and assembly of royal troops against the Hussites, operating in Slovakia. The fighting from the castle was directed directly by King Sigismund. The Hussites won after a long fierce battle, but despite the victory they retreated to Moravia, because their commander, Velek Koudelník, fell in battle. The decisive part of the fight went down in history as the Battle of Šintava (April 28, 1430).

There were frequent changes of owners at the Šintava castle and on the whole estate. In 1430, King Sigismund continued to reserve the entire estate to Štefan and Juraj Rozgonyov, counties of Bratislava, Nitra and Komárno counties. In 1490, Ladislav Rozgony welcomed King Ladislav II of Hungary to the castle. The Rozgony family held the manor for the longest time, until 1523.

In the modern era, Šintava belonged to the two most important Hungarian aristocratic families: Thurzovský and Eszterházy. In 1523, the young Hungarian king Louis II donated. Jágelovsky, an extensive Šintava and Čeklisk estate, to Alexei Thurz, a tavern, a faithful royal treasurer, the Countess of Kremnica and the hereditary Count of Spiš.

During the reign of Louis II. Jagelovsky, Europe was constantly threatened by Turkish troops. The defeat of Christian troops led by Louis II. near Mohács in 1526, the road to Hungary was opened by the Turks. In September 1530, they reached the Šintava Castle, which they did not conquer, but looted and burned many villages in its vicinity. After the death of Alexei Thurz in 1543, his wife Magdalena and daughters Anna and Elizabeth inherited the property with the wish that Anna would marry Andrej Báthory Jr., which happened in 1543. And so, shortly after his death, his son-in-law, the robe, the royal judge and the chief captain of the royal troops, Andrej Báthory, became the owner of the castle and manor, who rebuilt the castle into a comfortable manor house. In 1563, after widowing, he had to leave the castle because it was acquired through the courts by Thurz's younger daughter Elizabeth and her husband Ungnad. The widowed Elizabeth married Count Julius of Salm and Neuburg for the third time. Thus, at the end of the 50s of the 16th century, Šintava Castle fell into the hands of Count Július Salm. The Salmovci contributed to the reconstruction of the castle into a military fortress, the so-called military presidium.

After the death of his wife Alžbeta Salmová in 1590, disputes arose over the inheritance with the Thurz family. Anna, the daughter of Julius of Salm, stayed at Šintav Castle. In 1596 she died without descendants. Stanislav Thurzo won disputes over the property of Anna Salmová Lichtenstein. At the turn of the years 1595-1596 he took over the ownership of the Šintava estate. The young Stanislav, barely 20 years old, was most responsible for rebuilding the castle into a modern and well-fortified fortress, which the Turks attacked several times in 1598-1601, but never conquered. In the spring of 1604, a estate uprising led by Štefan Bocskay broke out. A year later, due to its location, Šintava also became the scene of this uprising. Stanislav Thurzo, in order to prevent bloodshed, surrendered and opened the gates of the castle to his army, despite the fact that the castle was heavily fortified.

Later, in 1618, another uprising of the Hungarian nobility led by Gabriel Bethlen broke out. He managed to seize Šintava relatively easily in 1619. The Bethlen family remained at the castle until peace was made in Mikulov. After the conclusion of the peace, Stanislav Thurzo joined the emperor, converted to the Catholic faith, for which the monarch appointed him a Hungarian palatine as a sign of trust. After leaving Šintava Castle by Bethlen's troops, the Thurz family returned to the castle. Stanislav Thurzo was married to Anna Rosina Listhius.

Anna was given the adjective Šintava witch. She allegedly had a passion for torture, so her husband Stanislav Thurzo interned her for several years because of her cruelty. At the time when she returned from the underground dungeon, where she was imprisoned together with Alžbeta Báthory in Čachtice, he forgave her everything and was free again for a time. Stanislav Thurzo died in May 1625 by a mysterious death, which was to be taken care of by his wife. That year, the countess married Juraj Pogrányi, who died in 1629. At that time, Anna was an unrestricted landowner of Šintava, Sereda, Hlohovec, Pustých Sadov and the adjacent estates. She allegedly tortured and killed not only women but also men. She did not tolerate resistance, and the subjects trembled from fear of her and her servants. She was careful - she secretly buried the victims or gave orders to the scumbags to announce that the victims had died of typhus. He was finally convicted and sentenced to death by beheading. However, the execution did not take place, because on March 27, 1638, he received a pardon from King Ferdinand III. Her son Adam inherited Šintava, among other property. Adam died in 1635 and a year later his brother Michal. Both without offspring. In essence, the Thurz family died out of them, and the royal chamber took over Šintava again. Anna Rosina lived her life in isolation at Šintava Castle under the tutelage of Mikuláš Eszterházy. She died in oblivion in 1643.

Several families then, especially the palatine Mikuláš Eszterházy, sharpened their claims to the Thurz heritage. Šintava Castle and the manor finally passed into the hands of Mikuláš Eszterházy, a native of Galanta. The castle was handed over to him in April 1639, but the de jure property was given the privilege of King Ferdinand III. only in 1642. In 1639, Mikuláš Esterházy started to repair Šintava Castle. He placed great emphasis on the quick repair of the castle palace and chapel, as he soon left his Transdanubian residence Fraknó (Forchtenstein) and moved to Šintava with his family and court. After its repair, the castle became a dignified seat of the palatine and his family.

In 1645 Mikuláš Eszterházy died. Paul, the 10-year-old Paul, the future high royal dignitary and prince, became the heir of Šintava. The castle was managed by Ladislav Eszterházy, Mikuláš's brother and the boys' tutor. However, the robberies of the Turks kept recurring. In 1652, food supplies were looted on the estate, but there were also great loss of life. In the battle of the Great Vozokans, seven members of the Eszterházy family lost their lives, including Ladislav. After this family catastrophe, the legacy was taken over by Pavol, who gradually rebuilt the castle from a military fortress into a luxurious Baroque Zamepán residence. In 1663, the Turks conquered Nové Zámky, Levice, Nitra, Hlohovec and reached the bank of the Váh near Šintava hrad, where about 500 soldiers under the command of the Bavarian captain Mikuláš bravely defended the castle until the harsh winter, when the Turks gave up further attempts to conquer it. and they never conquered Shintava. At that time, there was an imperial garrison at the castle, which remained there until the beginning of the 18th century. After the coming of age of the youngest son of St. Nicholas, František, in 1660, the property was divided. According to her, František acquired the Šintava estate and other property.

Šintavy Castle witnessed many more military events, such as the estate uprising led by Imrich Thököly (1683) and the estate uprising of František Rákóczi (1703). After the defeated battle of Trnava in 1704, Rákóczi and the insurgents led by Mikuláš Bercsényi moved to the castle, making it his main tent and holding Šintava in his hands for another 3 years. In 1707 Rákóczi's army destroyed the upper part of the tower and the rest of the castle burned down. After the defeat of the uprising in 1711, Šintava became the property of Jozef Eszterházy, who rebuilt its seat and the castle remained the property of the Eszterházy family until the middle of the 19th century.

In 1748, Jozef Eszterházy died and the property was taken over by his brother František, a Hungarian chancellor who rebuilt the castle into a Baroque manor house and established a Baroque garden. Even before his death in 1758, he distributed the property to his three sons. The Šintava estate and Čeklís were given to their son František (1715-1785), who was a Hungarian chancellor from 1766 and a Croatian ban from 1783. After his death in 1815, 2 years later, the Šintava estate was divided, from which three separate units were formed. The Sereď estate was acquired by Karol Eszterházy, who gradually indebted his estate with his indifference and incompetent management interventions. The property was acquired by the creditors, and eventually Princess Angelica Alssase d'Hennin became the owner of the estate. The last owners were Henrich and Klára Ohrensteinovci.

In 1823, the last part of the tower collapsed. At present, there is only a dilapidated manor house in Sered. Váh changed its bed separating Sereď from Šintava, which brought the castle to the right side of the river. Thus, it is not the work of political change, but of natural change. In the places of the castle was made in 1984-1992 archaeological research.

Gravedigger's daughter

There is perhaps no citizen in Šintava or Sereď who would not hear about the secret corridors of the Šintava water castle, now the Sereď manor house. These corridors led to three sides. According to oral tradition, these legends were dealt with by the legend of A. Janeg of Sered. The reputation is as follows. It's been a long time, so about 1600 it was written. At a time when the castle was in good condition. At that time, Sereď did not yet have its own church. People went to check out their devotion either to Šintava or to Dolní Streda. The Sereď cemetery was on a small hill probably where the current Municipal Office is. Undertaker Matej wiped the sweat from his forehead with his wide palm. Sometimes he stood. he looked around, spat in his palm, and grabbed his shovel again. He dug a grave for the old castle servant. Death had mercy on him, well, Matthew, a gravedigger, had mercy on him. The gravedigger was sad, and there was no smile on his face for a long time. Sadness plagued him. He was left with only a daughter - 17-year-old Kvetomila. She was a well-built girl. She took care of her father's household and, if possible, helped her father in digging graves. People said he was haunted in the cemetery. Only Matthew and his daughter did not believe it. However, they did not go to the cemetery at night, because they had nothing to do there. Only once. It was a boar of June. The daughter was sitting on a stone bench by her mother's grave, making a bouquet of wildflowers. The smiling summer day was slowly gone, and she did not notice the advanced time in her thoughts. The announcer's voice interrupted her thoughts: she struck eleven o'clock! She got up quickly and heard a rumble in the chapel. The chapel door rattled and a dark figure stepped out. She caught the gravedigger's daughter. She just shouted. The father heard his daughter's call and saw a fleeing dark shadow in the moonlight and straight into the chapel. As the gravedigger ran into the chapel, he saw a stone on the crypt. A smudging torch was stabbed in front of the opening. He looked into the opening and saw that it was not a crypt, but a secret passage. He didn't delay and ran into the dark hole. Since that night, no one had heard of the gravedigger and his daughter. The lord of the castle used this incident to intimidate people. It is said that evil spirits and strigas took care of the end of the gravedigger and his daughter.

Šintava's witch

She allegedly met Alžbeta Báthoryová in the Čachtice underground dungeon. Unlike her, however, she did not bathe in the blood of virgins. It took her pleasure to torture and kill people regardless of gender or age. She was the wife of Stanislav III. Thurzu. Stanislav was an educated and outspoken man, he studied at the poor universities of Padua, Venice and Rome, he spoke five languages, later he became a palatine of Hungary. When he was 18, his father died, so he interrupted his studies and began managing family assets. The Thurz family owned Tematín Castle, the former Šintava Water Castle, Bojnice Castle and other estates.

Stanislav tried to find a suitable wife. On the advice of his uncle, the Hungarian palatine Juraj Thurz, he was introduced to Anna Rosina Listhiusová, who comes from an important Lower Austrian aristocratic family. Stanislav wanted to marry her right away. But his older brother Juraj, the Hungarian viceroy, did not like the fifteen-year-old countess at all and wrote to his wife Elizabeth Cobor: “She is not Dido (Queen of Carthage), but if Stanislav loves her so much that he cannot live without her, Do you have to do that? ”As if he sensed that much darker circumstances would arise.

The wedding took place in 1598 and the newlyweds settled in Šintavský hrad near Sered. They gradually fathered three sons and a daughter. Her husband observed Anna's passion for torture, so he had her imprisoned for several years. She was allegedly imprisoned in Tematín, in the Prešpor Prison, but also in Čachtice, where she met Alžbeta Báthory in a dungeon. She allegedly warned her of the tragic consequences in times of repentance.

However, over time, Thurzo forgave her everything, and so she was released. She was a woman who did not shy away from entertainment and company, and over time, rumors began to spread about her that she also had lovers. One of them was supposed to be Štefan Pálfi from Červený Kamen. As soon as her husband found out, the ground collapsed after her lover. Mysteriously, however, Stanislav himself died in 1625. Although he is said to have died during his treatment in the Piešťany spa, he was allegedly poisoned by his wife, who knew herbal medicine.

That same year, Anna Rosina, again from some unknown trouble, married again. Her husband became the nobleman Štefan Pogrányi, but he soon died under mysterious circumstances. Read more...

The reason may also be that he excluded her from his will a year after the wedding: My above-mentioned married wife left me when I was seriously ill, took my medicine and cursed me and my whole family, which I heard with my own ears. She shouted disgusting swear at me, took my food, drink, and kitchen utensils, took my pillows under my head, and my duvets and sails, so I had to sleep in the hay. She broke into my travel boxes, which I witnessed, took my money and letters. Since I was seriously ill, there was nothing I could do about it. She did not keep her promise and was very cruel to me in my serious illness, and even spat on my chin. I will not allow her to inherit anything, even if she keeps my name for the rest of her life.

Anna Rosina was really a very special woman. She suffered from epilepsy, had visions, and probably suffered from a split in personality. Sometimes she manifested herself as a sensitive soul, loving her children, on the other hand, in bouts of sadistic passion, she committed crimes in the ministry and subjects. Unlike Báthoryčka, she did not bathe in the blood of virgins. It took her pleasure to torture and kill people regardless of gender or age. It is said that she even wasted the child of her maid, and only because she moaned in the cradle when she was nearby. Apparently that's why he must have died.

Anne Rosine has long managed to conceal her crimes because she reported that the victims had died of typhus. It was not until Magdalena Szolosi, a landowner, who was also cruelly abused and who eventually died of her injuries, escaped that the public and the nobility learned the truth.

Palatine Nicholas Esterházy ordered an extensive investigation on June 29, 1637, 80 witnesses testified against the lord of the castle. Historian Tünde Lengyel states in the book Bosorky, strigy, čarodějnice that 35-year-old Pavol Takács was one of the witnesses. He was said to have seen a naked maid through the crack in the door, with the help of two bachelors. The lady hit her in the head so hard that she broke her skull, from which her brain flowed. Among other things, she allegedly called local witches, with whom she closed her room at midnight and enchanted. Puppies' heads were to be boiled in a pot.

And although she committed fewer victims than Báthoryčka, she was proven more violent and murdered. She was sentenced to forfeiture and the death penalty by beheading. Finally, Emperor Ferdinand III. pardoned - her relatives had a great influence on the royal court. Anna Rosina then lived her life in seclusion at Šintavský Castle, where she died in oblivion in 1643.

The mansion with the surrounding park is open to the public

https://www.hrady-zamky.sk/sintava/