Holiday apartment in Šoporňa: History and culture on the Váh

Šoporňa is located in the Danube Lowland on the left bank of the Váh. Between its riverside setting, historic routes and religious buildings, the townscape presents a series of sites that reveal different eras and facets of the municipality. Here, history appears in named routes, chapels, a church, former watermills and living traditions.

Geographical location

Šoporňa lies about seven kilometres southeast of Sereď on the road towards Šaľa. From the Bratislava–Nitra motorway, the town can be seen on the right-hand side after Sereď. This description of its location combines orientation along the road with a view of the town from the motorway. Šoporňa can be situated both southeast of Sereď and on the road to Šaľa, as well as beyond Sereď when viewed from the Bratislava–Nitra motorway. Both details name different reference points for its geographical location.

History

Šoporňa was first mentioned in a document in 1251 under the name Supurni. The most important Czech–Hungarian long-distance road from the Danube Lowland through the Little Carpathians to Moravia also passed through the town. A remnant of this historic road is now a field track separating the land parcels Novčaš and Hony, and it has always been called Novozámska cesta. The former long-distance route therefore remains connected with Šoporňa in a clearly designated local form.

Culture

One of the notable buildings is the chapel “Kaplnka Panny Márie na Štrkovci”. It was built in the Neo-Gothic style towards the end of the 19th century and has a Neo-Gothic façade with two small side towers in Štrkovec. Next to the chapel stands a wooden bell tower dating from the beginning of the 20th century. It is made of oak and was completely reconstructed in 2007.

Another historic chapel is “Kaplnka sv. Anny”. It was probably built in 1750 out of gratitude for the end of a plague epidemic. The church “Kostol Panny Márie Snežnej” in Šoporňa also combines architectural and art history: the building was erected in 1770 and is a single-nave structure with a polygonal chancel and an integrated tower. The church contains Baroque statues of Saints Peter and Paul dating from the second half of the 18th century.

Water and nature

The Váh also shapes the town’s historic and present-day features. Historic watermills stood on the Old Váh. Following the regulation of the Váh in 1933, they were relocated opposite the church into the bed of the New Váh. Fishing is regularly practised near Šoporňa on the old branch of the Váh.

The multifunctional cultural centre in Šoporňa houses an exhibition room dedicated to folk traditions. The local landscape and land-use context also includes a hunting ground, and Šoporňa is known for its focus on pheasant breeding.

Other places

Other places in the selection: Sládkovičovo, Sereď, Šintava, Horné Saliby, Trstice, Pusté Úľany, Zemianske Sady, Šalgočka.

For the higher-level travel overview: Galanta.