Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

HUNGARY 373

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Kastély utca 1, Keszthely.

Tel (083) 314 194. £ @ 4

n Tourinform, Kossuth Lajos

utca 28, (083) 314 144. # Sep–

May: 10am–5pm Tue–Sun; Jun:

9am–5pm Tue–Sun; Jul–Aug:

9am–6pm daily. & 8 7 -

= Note: fee payable for

photography & video ca meras.

http://www.helikonkastely.hu

. Mirror Room
Adorned with
Venetian mir-
rors and English
furniture, the
striking Mirror
Room, also known
as the Main Hall,
regu larly hosts
chamber music
concerts and
operettas.
. Library
The Rococo
Helikon Library
holds over 100,000
volumes on its oak
shelves. Hungary’s
literary elite gath-
ered here in the
19th century.

GYÖRGY FESTETICS

A polymath who combined a love for

agriculture and the arts with the progressive

ideals of the Enlightenment, György

Festetics (1755–1819) was the grandson

of Kristóf Festetics, who had been given

the Helikon Estate in 1743 by the

Habsburgs. György is best known

for founding Europe’s first agri cul-

tural college, the Georgikon (see

p371) at Keszthely in 1797. A great

explorer, he went on to become a

generous patron of the arts and organized

poetry and music festivals at the palace.

Statue of György

Festetics

Portrait Gallery
Beautiful portraits of almost
every mem ber of the Festetics
family, as well as prominent
members of Hungarian
and Viennese society, line
the palace’s walls.

Chapel

The small, private

Festetics Chapel was

built in the 1880s,

when the extent

of the palace was

considerably expanded.

Each room is decorated in a

different colour scheme and

features priceless artifacts.