Savoy Castle, Ráckeve, Hungary

The Savoy Castle is an 18th-century Baroque style palace. Construction of the spacious home was begun in 1702 at the commissioning of Prince Eugene of Savoy and finished in approximately 1722. Prince Eugene of Savoy acquired Csepel Island in 1698, and thereafter began the planning process of this 'maison de plaisance'.

Eugene commissioned Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, a student of the Roman Carlo Fontana, to design the castle. Seven letters from Hildebrandt to the prince remain in the archives of the Gonzaga family in Mantua and evidence planning and construction information about the castle.

The castle has side-wings which were completed in 1714, and the whole construction process was finished around 1720 to 1722. The prince did not reside in Ráckeve mansion after it was finished, and following his death, the estate was appropriated by the Crown.

Under the reign of Maria Theresia of Austria, the mansion and the adjoining land in Csepel was managed by the Hungarian Chancery. In 1814, the middle part of the mansion, along with the stately Baroque cupola, was destroyed by fire; what is seen today was rebuilt after the fire.

Until its reconstruction in the 1980s, the mansion suffered constant decline. The castle has enjoyed renovation and revitalization, and it is now used as a hotel, which is called the Savoyai Mansion Hotel.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Andrea Fekete (14 months ago)
It may have been closed for a long time. It's huge, with a big park, slowly decaying.

Zita Zita (2 years ago)
These castle builders knew how to live! Here, the castle does not overlook its own lake, but the Danube. One of our first baroque castles and the main entrance and facade are quite unique, we have never seen anything like this in our country. Unfortunately, it is closed and although we read that it will be renovated, we did not see any signs of this. We also entered the park from the outside, inviting beautiful meadows and trees will await the visitors. There is a pastry shop next to the park, it is worth going in, on the one hand, the cookies and ice cream are delicious, there is a terrace and the pastry shop is full of all kinds of very well-kept plants, which always reminds me of my winter garden dream. So we had a good time.

Lee (2 years ago)
Cute spot! Mulled wine for the win.

Gabriella Gál (4 years ago)
There is not much to see from the castle outside the fence.

Dániel Lengyel (5 years ago)
I don't think it can be visited.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Christian Lauw

Historic Site of the week

Wieskirche

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.

The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.

The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.

Savoy Castle

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Wieskirche