The Zichy Castle in Zsély

In the monograph Counties and Towns of Hungary: The Complete “Borovszky” we can read the following about the history of the Zsély estate and the castle: "As a result of Imre Balassa's disloyalty, the Divény estate passed to the Hungarian crown and was donated by King Leopold to Count István Zichy in 1686. Zsély was also included in the deed of donation, and on this basis the Zichy family bought it back from Count Koháryak. The Divény estate was transformed into a fiefdom of primogeniture and, in the event of the firstborn's death, into a fiefdom of seniority. ... The large castle here, together with the great hall, was built in 1772 by Count Ferencz Zichy, Bishop of Győr, and the western part by Count Károly Zichy († 1876). The castle In the great hall are placed the portraits of the seniors of the family and the founder of the religious mission. The famous archive of the Zichy family is located in the castle, which was transferred from the palace castle to Zsély in 1858. …”* ; ; The castle currently stands almost empty, the western wing housed the archive of the Zichy family until 1939, which the family donated to the National Archives, the introduction to the repertoire prepared about it reads: ; “The archives of the Zichy family, kept in Zsély, Nógrád County until 1939, which the family handed over to the National Archives this year, consist of two collection-like fonds: the documents of the Zichy family, which were transferred from the Várpalota in Fejár County in 1858, and the documents of the Zichy Ferraris family, which, after the family’s extinction in the fiági, were transferred from Oroszvár in Moson County to Zsély, the seat of the Divény seniorate. The deposit agreement concluded between the family and the National Archives in 1939 calls the documents of the Zichy family the palace archives, and the documents of the Zichy Ferraris family the Oroszvár archives.”** ; ; The Zsély Museum of Local History and Ethnography has been operating in the eastern wing since 2002, the establishment of which was greatly contributed to by the work of the honorary citizen of Zsély, József Böhm, a local history, ethnography and archaeological researcher. The museum is managed by his son, András Böhm, a member of the VICTORIA Cultural Association of Zsély and a lecturer at the Mikszáth Kálmán Memorial House in Szklabonya.***