KÁROLYI PALACE, FÜZÉRRADVÁNY - Nemzeti Örökségvédelmi Fejlesztési Nonprofit Kft. | NÖF

KÁROLYI PALACE, FÜZÉRRADVÁNY

You can reach Károlyi Palace, the pride of Füzérradvány, by passing through a fairytale-like row of pine trees. From about 1846 to 1877, Ede Károlyi, the heir of Radvány estate, reconstructed the building formerly standing here in a historicising style based on his own, as well as Miklós Ybl’s plans. The count himself drew up the concept of the palace’s special octagonal tower.

From 1938, the palace housed a “palace hotel” counting, in part, on the sport of hunting, which was a particularly novel idea in Hungary in the 1930s, although there were a good number of European forerunners, especially in English country mansions.

Although Károlyi Palace, surrounded by the woods of Füzérradvány, retains the atmosphere of the historicist era from the outside, in its halls evoking the splendour of the past, visitors are greeted by unadulterated Italian Renaissance interior design details.

 It is also worth mentioning the extensive palace park with a special atmosphere surrounding the palace. The renewed historical garden will amaze visitors with its promenades, bridges across streams, fishponds, plane trees, wide-spreading linden trees, multi-trunked tulip trees and pyramidal English oaks. You can even walk for several hours in the park without having to touch a section of the same road twice.

SITE DESCRIPTION

In the Middle Ages, Radvány was mostly part of the estate of Füzér Castle. It was first mentioned in a charter in 1262. In the second half of the 16th century, it was owned by István Báthory, who, in 1585, bestowed the village on one of his familiares, Péter Réthey. Presumably, he was the one who had the first mansion, the ancestor of today’s palace, built here, in late Renaissance style. After that, the owner of the settlement changed several times, and a census was made of the palace in 1679.

 

In 1686, Leopold I, Holy Roman emperor and king of Hungary, bestowed the castle and the estates of Füzér on Baron László Károlyi of Nagykároly as compensation for his losses in the Turkish wars. It was then that the more than two-and-a-half-century history of the Károlyis’ possession of Radvány Palace began – with only a brief interruption. The Kaplony kindred.

 

The late Renaissance palace of Réthey was rebuilt and enlarged by various pledgees over several periods, but almost all the details of the L-shaped building were demolished during the time of Count Ede Károlyi.

 

He was the first Károlyi to choose Radvány as his permanent residence, reconstructing the palace over several periods, from 1846 until 1877.

 

Being an amateur designer, the count himself designed the concept. He commissioned Miklós Ybl, one of the most outstanding Hungarian architects employing the historicising style, for the design of the palace, whose role in this project may have been relatively limited. This is how the new, representative, U-shaped palace with two wings utilised as farm buildings, connected to it from the north, was finally formed.

 

The octagonal tower of the residence, for example, must have been born based on the idea of Ede Károlyi. According to Ybl Ervin’s note, later the members of the family therefore constantly mocked Ede Károlyi, calling him ‘fire poker’ due to his tall, slender, and a rather disproportionate physique.

 

In parallel with the construction of the residence, the garden was transformed into a landscape-style park, which by the end of the century had already covered about 240 acres.

 

Between 1897 and 1902, Count László Károlyi rebuilt the southern residential wing of the palace according to the plans of Albert Pio, however, the architect was still drawing up plans even in 1907, so the works most certainly dragged on.

 

A remarkable special feature of the palace, even in European terms, is the large number of incorporated secondary building structure elements from Italy. Between 1898 and 1913, Count László Károlyi and his wife, Countess Franciska Apponyi, bought complete Renaissance fireplaces, door frames and carvings, mainly in Florence – primarily from the art dealer Stefano Bardini – but also in Paris, which were built into the Füzérradvány palace. Renaissance and late renaissance furniture and works of art had also been purchased, with the use of which real museum-like interiors were created in the palace.

 

During the tenure of Count István Károlyi, as well as between 1936–1938 based on the plans of György Lehoczky, who also designed the pavilions of the palace garden, also housing rooms, the building was converted into a luxurious palace hotel.

 

At that time, the rooms upstairs were divided into suites, and tennis, ski and golf courses, as well as pool and apartment houses were built in the park. Embraced by a stunning park, this luxurious hotel opened its doors to visitors in 1938, and was operated by the family until 1948, with one interruption. Following the 1949 nationalisation, first a hospital, then later a sanatorium was established in the palace of Füzérradvány.

 

The historical restoration of the complex and its development into a tourist attraction took place between 2018 and 2021, within the framework of the National Palace and the National Castle Programme, financed by the (NÖF) National Heritage Protection Development Nonprofit Ltd.

OPENING HOURS

SUMMER opening hours

 

1 April – 31 October

Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Closed on Mondays

 

WINTER opening hours

 

1 November – 31 March

Tuesday to Sunday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Closed on Mondays

 

The ticket desk closes 1 hour before the end of the prevailing opening hours.

CONTACT US

Address: 3993 Füzérradvány, gróf Károlyi Ede út 1.

Mobil phone: +36-70/902-3212

Email: fuzerradvanyikastely@nofnkft.hu

 

Füzérradvány is located 15 km from Sátoraljaújhely on the way to Pálháza. The palace is located 20 km from Sátoraljaújhely and 45 km from Košice. From the direction of Budapest, continue on the M3 motorway in the direction of Sátoraljaújhely, on road 37. To reach the car park, turn right on a road lined with pine trees, approx. 5 km after leaving the settlement of Mikóháza. You can also access the settlement from the direction of Košice and Tornyosnémeti, via Pálháza.

 

NEAREST AIRPORTS: Ferenc Liszt International Airport, Budapest (269 km), Košice, Airport (45 km)

TICKET PRICES

Adult ticket: HUF 3,500

 

Concession: HUF 1,750

children and young adults aged 6-26

visitors aged 62 and over

one adult accompanying at least two children under the age of 18    

 

Local resident holding a Füzérradvány resident ID: HUF 1000

 

Family ticket: HUF 7,000

1 or 2 adults + 1 or more children under the age of 18  

 

Group ticket: Additional information about group prices and discounts is available at the following contact details: rendezveny@nofnkft.hu

 

Separate park tour ticket: HUF 1,750/adult, HUF 900/child

 

Borrowing a digital exhibition guide: HUF 1,000 per device

 

 

Fee of guided tour in a foreign language: HUF 15,000 per group (English, Slovakian)

providing a guided group tour at a pre-arranged time

The duration of guided tours is 90 minutes.

 

Escape room: HUF 10,000 a game (in Hungarian, English or Slovakian)

with the participation of a minimum of 2, and a maximum of 6 persons

EXHIBITION

PALACE NOIR OBJECTS, SECRETS AND STORIES FROM THE HISTORY OF KÁROLYI PALACE IN FÜZÉRRADVÁNY

 

Following extensive renovation work carried out on the entire Károlyi Palace in Füzérradvány, the historical building houses a permanent exhibition, mainly presenting the palace hotel period of the edifice (1936–1948). The exhibition is located on the ground floor and the first floor of the building’s previous museum section, but the exhibition also continues in the service area on the ground floor, as well as in the “escape room” that can be found in the basement. The ground floor and basement spaces have been expanded with functions serving the exhibition, and are also suitable as communal spaces.

 

The interior design of the exhibition, as well as the transfer of diverse knowledge of construction, age, ownership and local history, has taken place in a form and with equipment that meets contemporary requirements. The elements of the exhibition consist of an individually designed installation that has been fitted on site. Following the curatorial concept, exhibition furniture with modern lines and materials was created, in strong contrast with the monumental spaces rich in restored surfaces and the large number of “reclaimed” artefacts, and furniture or replicas thereof.

 

We had a relatively rich unit of original artwork, but we could unearth only a fraction of the artefacts that once stood in the halls of the palace. The concept of the exhibition therefore also took into account, in part, the concept of horror vacui (the fear of empty spaces) to be presented: “some rooms” are projected with black-and-white photographs converted into motion pictures, where the former art treasures are replaced by projection. Some pieces of furniture were built at a 1:1 scale, but by colouring them (white and grey) we make a clear indication that they are only scale-based replicas of the pieces of furniture that once stood there. Some surfaces, and in particular paintings (which are now permanently lost or were destroyed in World War II, or in the 1970s for instance), are presented with a framed replica placed in their former location. To “replace” formerly coloured tapestries, we used black-and-white (slightly coloured) copy prints, where we can no longer place rugs that match (are similar to) the original.

 

The overall impression and atmosphere of the palace exhibition should carry the gloomy romance of Anglo-Saxon castles, the dark tones of hunting lodges in some of its halls, and the “noir” experience typical of the films of the 1930s and 1940s. All this is counterbalanced by the “talking pictures” (live-action films) introducing the rooms, a detective game loosely following Karinthy.