Visegrad
is the most important and most beautiful place in Danube Bend. You can see whole panoramic view from its castle from the top of the hill. Visegrad played a very important role in hungarian history. It was the home of the kings from the 12th century. The castle, known as the citadell is an open museum for tourists, and you can find other historical sites in the town. You also can take boat trip to Danube Bend.The Citadell
The Citadel (Fellegvár) and the Lower Castle The Visegrád double castle system is one of the castles built by Béla IV recognizing the consequences of the Mongol invasion. The fortress preserved its significance until the Turkish invasions.
The Citadel had a multifunctional role: it was protecting the valley of the Danube, it was controlling the main commerical route between Buda and Esztergom, and also served as a custom’s house. The fortress consisted of two parts.
The construction of the Lower Castle started under the reign of Béla IV around 1247. It was unique, as the fortress was not located next to the road differing from the common traditions, but the road was crossing the territory of the castle. The most interesting part of the Lower Castle is the so called Solomon Tower. The Tower was named after a false story, stating that Solomon was guarded in this Tower after loosing in the battle for the throne against King Saint Laszlo and Geza.
This unique Hungarian building was constructed based on a southern-German design. Under the reign of Louis the Great King of Hungary, the famous bell-founder Konrád Gaal was operating in the fortress. Today the Tower is hosting a five-storey museum, introducing the history of Visegrád to its visitors.
In 1246 Béla IV started the construction of the Citadel on an area with outstanding geographical characteristics, by the using the money from the family jewels of his wife, Mária Lascaris to build a refugee for the Dominican Order nuns living on the ’Rabbits Island’ (today’s Margaret Island).
At that time the plan of the fortress was triangle-shaped, with two towers.
The Old Tower was erected at a location most at risk, and the Gate Tower protected the southern entrance. The significance of the fortress considerably improved during the Anjou era. Once Charles Robert obtained the fortress from Máté Csák, he moved the royal court here in 1323.
The Visegrád Citadel hosted the famous Royal Summit of Kings, and the first Anjou King died in the castle in 1370. The Saint Crown of Hungary was guarded here. When Louis the Great became the King of Poland in 1370, the Polish crown was also stored in the castle. The palace wings and a new external wall was erected during the Anjou reign. Sigismund of Luxemburg extended the fortification with a third set of walls and carried out several lavish constructions.
Following the Turkish reign, after the liberation of Buda in 1686 the Habsburgs conquered the fortress after a 5-day siege. Due to the dissolution of the border castle system the fortification became unwanted and was left to ruin.
The excavation and reconstruction activities started in 1871 and are still underway today.
Solomon
Tower
The lower castle of Visegrad. Built in 13th century.
Open
1th May- 30 Sept, 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Salamon-torony u.
Royal Palace
Built 14-15th century, ones was the living palace for kings.
Open Tue-Sun 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Fő utca
Museum of King Matthias
Open : Tue-Sun 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Fő utca
Roman Ruins
Guard towers and fortress can be found around Visegrad
The lower castle of Visegrad. Built in 13th century.
Open
1th May- 30 Sept, 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Salamon-torony u.
Royal Palace
Built 14-15th century, ones was the living palace for kings.
Open Tue-Sun 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Fő utca
Museum of King Matthias
Open : Tue-Sun 9-4:30pm
Location : Visegrád, Fő utca
Roman Ruins
Guard towers and fortress can be found around Visegrad
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How to get
there
By boat on Danube. Check timetable
By car you have to follow the 11th main road from Budapest. See road...
By train you can come from Nyugati Train station to Vác/Nagymaros direction. At Nagymaros you have to cross Danube by ferry. Ferry goes diretly to downtown of Visegrad. Check train timetable
By boat on Danube. Check timetable
By car you have to follow the 11th main road from Budapest. See road...
By train you can come from Nyugati Train station to Vác/Nagymaros direction. At Nagymaros you have to cross Danube by ferry. Ferry goes diretly to downtown of Visegrad. Check train timetable
International Palace Games
11-12-13 July, in Visegrad
Royal tournaments, medieval festival, fair, dance shows, horse riding, archery,
More...
11-12-13 July, in Visegrad
Royal tournaments, medieval festival, fair, dance shows, horse riding, archery,
More...
Accommodation
The
Royal Palace
The history of the Palace stretches back to the times, when Charles Robert moved the royal court to Visegrád in 1323, and started the constructions in town. The first records of the building are fairly bad: according to the Pictured Chronicle, Felicián Zách attacked the royal family here. Under the reign of Charles Robert only a few living accomodations were built, and an area was constructed for hosting knight tournaments, which was occassionally used also by the King.
During the Anjou era this area was rather a part of town with several buildings, which was transformed into a palace under the reign of Sigismund. The Palace’s plan was square-shaped and it was surrounded by walls. The old chapel was left outside the walls, so the King donated it, together with the cloister buildings to the Recoilect Order.
The Gate Tower served as the main entrance, and it was facing the new one-naved palace chapel. As the lay-out was modified, more courtyards and gardens were created. The Reception Courtyard and the Gala Courtyard of the north-eastern palace were the most important.
The centre of the Palace was located in the nort-eastern part of the complex. The royal suites were located in a three-storey square-shaped building. The staff was residing on the ground floor, whilst the upper two floors served as the King’s and Queen’s summer and winter residency.
Next to the Palace building Sigismund erected a square-shaped orchard equalling the size of his Palace, with a fountain in the centre supplied by an aqueduct. Also within the halls of the Palace the traces of modifications and ornamental changes of Sigismund can be seen.
Later on the Palace was neglected, and only after the marriage of King Matthias and Beatrix de Aragon in 1476, it was turned into a late Italian Gothic style Palace. Only a few new buidlings were erected, rather the old ones were reconstructed according to the new requirements. So several statues, stoves and fountains were made in the sculptor workshop of Giovanni Dalmata.
The Hercules Well, which is the most important ornament of the Palace, was also made by Dalmata. The Well was decorated with the armours of Matthias, and illustrated the young Hercules which may be a reference to the King who was also the General of the Army.
Around the Well a renaissance loggia was erected, reconstructing the Sigismund era Gala Courtyard, and also the garden was enriched by new pieces of art. Also the chapel shows the work of the sculptors working in an Italian renaissance style. The new tabernacle of the chapel was made of gilded marble from Carrara, and the sculptors decorated the church with several carvings.
One of these carvings, the red marble relief called the ’Madonna of Visegrád’ is still located in the chapel. The Palace was competing with other Italian renaisssance courtyards, therefore Bartolomeo de Maraschi Papal Legate in his letters frequently described it as a Paradise on Earth. Later the Palace was left in ruin, and Miklós Oláh in his work called ’Hungária’ mentions the building in the middle of XVIth Century. The Palace was completely neglected under the reign of the Turkish, and by the XVIIIth Century it was nearly buried underground. By the XXth Century it was totally forgotten and many doubted that it ever existed in the form described by Oláh.
The location of the Palace was found by János Schulek and he started his excavations at the end of 1934. All the kings who erected buildings in Visegrád also contributed to the construction of the Palace, the reconstruction of the Palace was carried out by the most famous archaeologists and historians e.g. János Schulek, Miklós Héjj and Mátyás Szőke. The reconstructure activities were forced to stop for decades.
The forthcoming Millenium boosted the works and by 2000 the reconstruction of the North-Eastern Palace and the Hercules Well were completed. Inside the Palace the exhibition rooms and the stone collection displays several records from the various ages
The history of the Palace stretches back to the times, when Charles Robert moved the royal court to Visegrád in 1323, and started the constructions in town. The first records of the building are fairly bad: according to the Pictured Chronicle, Felicián Zách attacked the royal family here. Under the reign of Charles Robert only a few living accomodations were built, and an area was constructed for hosting knight tournaments, which was occassionally used also by the King.
During the Anjou era this area was rather a part of town with several buildings, which was transformed into a palace under the reign of Sigismund. The Palace’s plan was square-shaped and it was surrounded by walls. The old chapel was left outside the walls, so the King donated it, together with the cloister buildings to the Recoilect Order.
The Gate Tower served as the main entrance, and it was facing the new one-naved palace chapel. As the lay-out was modified, more courtyards and gardens were created. The Reception Courtyard and the Gala Courtyard of the north-eastern palace were the most important.
The centre of the Palace was located in the nort-eastern part of the complex. The royal suites were located in a three-storey square-shaped building. The staff was residing on the ground floor, whilst the upper two floors served as the King’s and Queen’s summer and winter residency.
Next to the Palace building Sigismund erected a square-shaped orchard equalling the size of his Palace, with a fountain in the centre supplied by an aqueduct. Also within the halls of the Palace the traces of modifications and ornamental changes of Sigismund can be seen.
Later on the Palace was neglected, and only after the marriage of King Matthias and Beatrix de Aragon in 1476, it was turned into a late Italian Gothic style Palace. Only a few new buidlings were erected, rather the old ones were reconstructed according to the new requirements. So several statues, stoves and fountains were made in the sculptor workshop of Giovanni Dalmata.
The Hercules Well, which is the most important ornament of the Palace, was also made by Dalmata. The Well was decorated with the armours of Matthias, and illustrated the young Hercules which may be a reference to the King who was also the General of the Army.
Around the Well a renaissance loggia was erected, reconstructing the Sigismund era Gala Courtyard, and also the garden was enriched by new pieces of art. Also the chapel shows the work of the sculptors working in an Italian renaissance style. The new tabernacle of the chapel was made of gilded marble from Carrara, and the sculptors decorated the church with several carvings.
One of these carvings, the red marble relief called the ’Madonna of Visegrád’ is still located in the chapel. The Palace was competing with other Italian renaisssance courtyards, therefore Bartolomeo de Maraschi Papal Legate in his letters frequently described it as a Paradise on Earth. Later the Palace was left in ruin, and Miklós Oláh in his work called ’Hungária’ mentions the building in the middle of XVIth Century. The Palace was completely neglected under the reign of the Turkish, and by the XVIIIth Century it was nearly buried underground. By the XXth Century it was totally forgotten and many doubted that it ever existed in the form described by Oláh.
The location of the Palace was found by János Schulek and he started his excavations at the end of 1934. All the kings who erected buildings in Visegrád also contributed to the construction of the Palace, the reconstruction of the Palace was carried out by the most famous archaeologists and historians e.g. János Schulek, Miklós Héjj and Mátyás Szőke. The reconstructure activities were forced to stop for decades.
The forthcoming Millenium boosted the works and by 2000 the reconstruction of the North-Eastern Palace and the Hercules Well were completed. Inside the Palace the exhibition rooms and the stone collection displays several records from the various ages
Roman
ruins
Near Visegrád we can find numerous remains of the `limes` protecting the province of Pannonia. Among these the most important are the remains of the Roman camp on the 176-metre high Sibrik Hill.
The fortification was built in the 320s under the reign of Constantin I.
The base of the building was deltoid-shaped and the fortification was protected by towers.
After its destruction during the migration period, King Stephen I founded here a bailiff church reusing the remains of the fortress, and beside it was the town’s first church erected before 1009.
Later a bigger church was built by Solomon, the Church of Archdeaconry. Until the Mongol invasion this was the centre of town, during the invasion the church was destroyed. The historical ruins and artifacts were excavated at the beginning of the 1970s with the lead of Mátyás Szőke.
Near Visegrád we can find numerous remains of the `limes` protecting the province of Pannonia. Among these the most important are the remains of the Roman camp on the 176-metre high Sibrik Hill.
The fortification was built in the 320s under the reign of Constantin I.
The base of the building was deltoid-shaped and the fortification was protected by towers.
After its destruction during the migration period, King Stephen I founded here a bailiff church reusing the remains of the fortress, and beside it was the town’s first church erected before 1009.
Later a bigger church was built by Solomon, the Church of Archdeaconry. Until the Mongol invasion this was the centre of town, during the invasion the church was destroyed. The historical ruins and artifacts were excavated at the beginning of the 1970s with the lead of Mátyás Szőke.