The original fortress against Turks of 1669 was after loss of a military significance in 1855 rebuilt into a prison. It has served to this purpose without any interruption until now. At the time of its establishment the capacity of the prison was 1 000 places. It was determined for convicted men sentenced for the most serious crimes and later also for political reasons. In the 80s of the 19th century the so called Transitional Institution was established nearby, that was the first “semi-open door” prison facility in the Kingdom of Hungary. It existed under the administration of the prison until 1952, when it was canceled. In the second half of the 20th century, the prison was rebuilt and modernized. Before 1989, about 2 600 convicts were placed there. In 1990, a rebellion of prisoners broke out in the prison in consequence of that parts of the prison buildings were damaged or completely destroyed. One year later a tragedy happened in the prison. During the escape of prisoners five prison officers from the prison were murdered. In 1993, the original decision of the Slovak National Council of 1990 on the dissolution of the prison was annulled. In 2000, the reconstruction of the historic building from 1750 – the so called “Castle” began, which was damaged by the rebellion. The building was put into use in 2004.