The fortress
Komárno fortification system is a system of forts, bastions, and fortifications in and around the towns of Komárno and Komárom on the banks of both the Dunaj and Váh rivers. The fortification system of town Komárno is the biggest fortification in Slovakia, and as a whole complex with fortifications on the Hungarian side of the Danube it is the biggest fortification in what used to be Austria-Hungary.
Because of the trading and military importance of river crossings, they have played a strategically significant role for thousands of years. Komárno’s earlier settlements controlled the waterways of the Danube, Váh and Nitra rivers. Not only did they control the rivers, but also the roads that went through the Nitra River valley. This placed the occupants of this junction in a key position.
Anonymus (1173-1196) was the first who reported the location of the fortress in Komárno, the inhabited parts of the area and the possibilities of natural defence. The Tartar invasion - during which the major part of the country was devastated – proved the necessity of these strengthenings. After the Tartars left the country, King Béla IV strongly supported the developments of towns. He gave significant privileges to 25 settlements, including Komarno, which received town rights in 1265.
King Matthias frequently stayed in the castle with the greatest of pleasure. He had it rebuilt by Italian masters. In his other work he praises the beauty and greatness of the royal castles in Buda, Komárno and Visegrád.
After the invasion of Buda by the Turkish troops in 1541, Emperor Ferdinand I was forced to improve the fortification. He got back the castle in 1544 and ordered its extension. To prepare the plans of the fortress, he assigned Pietro Ferrabosco, who suggested a fort with more angles. This fortification system suited both the contemporary architectural aspirations and the configurations of terrain and hydrography.
It is likely that the architects of the fortress didn’t have enough experience and knowledge about the quality of the soil in the area – in the spring of 1570 the flood destroyed most of the walls.
After the Turkish military expedition in 1663-1664 and because of the fall of the forts in Nové Zámky, fortification became important again. King Leopold I ordered the building of two new forts. One of them was Leopold Fort near Hlohovec; the other was the New Fortress in Komárno.
The Turkish troops were defeated in 1683 at Vienna and after the war, which lasted sixteen years, Hungary was liberated from the Turkish rule. It was a turning point in the fortress’ life in that Komárno also ceased to be a border town and was not highly maintained. The earthquakes in 1763 and 1783, the epicentre of which were near the fortress, destroyed it a great deal. As the military management did not find it important to restore the destroyed fortress, the garrison of troops was depleted.
The effects of the Napoleonic Wars on the Habsburg Empire caused the emperor to realize that significant army posts were needed along the river Danube. This turned attention to Komárno again. In 1807 the engineers did the necessary surveying, made plans and restored the central fortress. Latest objects of Komárno fortifications are Palatínska and Vážska línia - line of bastions and walls on Slovak side and tree small fortresses on Hungarian side - fortress Csillág, Monostor and Igmánd.