SÁROSPATAK is situated on both sides of the Bodrog river; the two districts were connected by a stone-piered wooden bridge in the 19th century. The history of the setlement can be traced back to the 13th century. King Stephen V of Hungary had the Red Tower, a donjon, built in 1262. Sárospatak and its appurtenances, including the donjon and 12 country-houses, were granted to Michael Ubul in ca. 1270. Sárospatak was mentioned as a privileged royal village in 1355. Sigismund Perényi acquired the village from King Sigismund of Luxemburg. Large-scale construction works in Sárospatak were initiated by Peter Perényi, who did not live to see them finished; he died in 1548. Under its later onwner, Zsuzsanna Lorántffy, the spouse of George Rákóczi I, Prince of Transylvania (1630-1648), Sárospatak took a new lease of life. Prince George had the castle restored and had new buildings attached to it. Under his wife's patronage the town's Reformed College became a distinguished school with teachers like Jan Amos Comenius, who wrote his epoch-making "Orbis sensualium pictus" during the four years he stayed here. She also founded a printing office in Sárospatak in 1650.

Sárospatak castle consists of the donjon and a quad of (partly Renaissance) edifices. Built during the reign of King Andrew I or II, the three-storied moated donjon stands on a trachyte plateau. The most valuable side of the quad is the wing built in ca. 1530 by Peter Perényi in local Renaissance style as an addition to a medieval edifice; the two are connected by a corridor. Two more wings, built on the foundations of earlier buildings, were added to the Perényi wing by Duke Breczenheim. The fourth (Renaissance) wing of the quad was built at the request of Zsuzsanna Lorántffy. The owner granted free access to the garden that surrounded the castle. The Reformed College is a renowned national institution of the town. Its library had a stock of more than 30,000 books. Sárospatak had 4200 inhabitants, wide plough-lands, vineyards in the Hegyalja area and stone-quarries in the mid-1800s.

Bibliography: Benczur 1847, Divald 1903, György Aladár, Marosi, Rácz, Rados, Szinnyei, Zemplén, Zombory 1860