Thanks to many years of research, the history of the construction of a relatively large number of properties in Trnava has been deciphered. But only in few cases was it possible to assign specific names and histories to the buildings. One of these houses was located on the place where, in 1724, the St. Stephen Seminary was built. The list of important people that owned this building, dating back to the mid-16th century, suggests that it was not an insignificant property. The oldest identified owner of the original medieval house belonged to the family of the Krištof Zavary de Majthényi, of Zavar County. One hundred years later, it was bought by Imrich Elks (later, he became an archbishop). After that, a Palatine, Nicholas Esterházi, bought it. His grandson, Francis, sold the property in 1710 to the Esztergom Archdicese. They replaced the house with a four-wing palace with a closed courtyard and relocated the seminary of St. Stephen there, which had previously been situated in a house on Kapitulská Street. The street-side facade, characterized by its distinctive black-and-white terracotta colour, and various stucco grotesque elements, where none of the motifs occur twice, and its atypical visual solution, are entirely unique not only in Trnava but even beyond Slovakia. Unfortunately, the authorship of this extraordinary design has not been precisely determined. Based on the similarities with the Kinsky Palace in Vienna, however, the building is included in the portfolio of the important Austrian architect, J. L. Hildebrandt.The façade decoration is completed by the main portal on which a valuable relief of the 17th century is placed, depicting kneeling ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries. It probably represents an incomplete part of a larger composition, and it is assumed that it was transferred here from the old St. Stephen's seminary. The chapel in the east wing, with its original frescoes, baroque painting - discovered on the vault of the large hall - represents an important part of the interior.

 

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