Tata

Tata grew around springs and a castle beside the Old Lake in northern Transdanubia. King Sigismund's castle and the lake were established in the early fifteenth century, and Matthias Corvinus later made substantial additions to the royal residence. Water supplied mills as well as the defences of the town.

The Ottoman wars repeatedly brought fighting to Tata. Its castle first fell in 1543, changed hands many times and was finally recovered from the Ottomans in 1685. Count József Esterházy bought the estate in 1727. His engineer Sámuel Mikoviny began drainage works in 1747, collecting spring water in the lake and cutting channels through the extensive surrounding marshes to carry away excess water. New mill channels and reclaimed land transformed the landscape around Tata and neighbouring Tóváros.