Well, we have good news for you: experiencing this magnificent lifestyle no longer needs to be limited to your imagination. If you’re ever around the ‘Hungarian Sea’, make sure to visit the Helikon Palace Museum located in Festetics Palace in Keszthely.
A bit of history
The Festetics family played a key political, cultural and economic role in Hungarian history, but perhaps their most important legacy is Festetics Palace. Constructed in a Baroque style, it is one of the largest buildings of its kind in Hungary. It was not always this large, however. Its construction began in 1745, by Kristóf Festetics, who also made many other significant contributions to the development of Keszthely, located at the western end of Lake Balaton, including building hospitals and helping craftsmen settle there. Although Kristóf’s son had his own plans for expanding the building, his grandson, György Festetics (the First) ended up being the one to continue the renovation and expansion works in 1792. The castle then underwent further expansion and renovations, only reaching its current form in the 1880s. But perhaps you would like to see the results of this century and a half of construction for yourself. When you catch a glimpse of this magnificent building, you will no doubt understand why the process took so long, and why Festetics Palace is considered one of the most beautiful sights in Hungary.