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THIS POSTCARD from the 1930s shows Bátovce: now a relatively little known village, but in the past the headquarters of Hont County.
In 1560, Bátovce was granted the rights of a town and ranked on the same level as the neighbouring towns of Levice, Pukanec and Banská Štiavnica. In spite of this, it never adopted urban architectural trends. Without doubt its dangerous position on the turbulent Turkish-Hungarian border was partially responsible for this.
For almost 150 years Bátovce citizens lived unprotected and in jeopardy of unexpected Turkish raids. A way to safeguard against the enemy was to dig deep wine cellars, which served as shelters. One such cellar that still exists is 17 metres deep, with many corridors leading in several directions.
Bátovce is worth visiting for its folk architecture, featuring colourful original stained glass windows.
Prepared by Branislav Chovan
