Pécsvárad Castle

History
Among the most significant Hungarian heritage from the Middle Ages is the castle built on a Benedictine monastery commissioned by King St Stephen. The building complex is now used as a museum and a hotel.

The shape of this polygonal castle was developed in the 13th century. The best-preserved part is the cannon tower of the southeastern corner, the Old Tower (Öregtorony). It currently serves as a hotel.

The ruins of the abbey can be seen in the northwestern section of the castle. Next to these is the triple-nave abbey church consecrated in 1015. One of these naves has been excavated; it is 15 metres long and closes with a semicircular apse. The sanctuary is decorated by Romanesque windows and figurative frescoes from the 12th century.

The monastery chapel also dates back to the time of St Stephen. It may be approached from the entrance at the medieval drawbridge on the north side.

The loopholes of the Romanesque mansion can be discerned to the west of the entrance. To the east is the entrance to the castle museum that provides an insight into the medieval flourishing life of the oldest Benedictine monastery in Hungary.

source: Hungary starts here

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Pipo de Ozora Castle

History
This regular 15th-century Gothic castle with an enclosed courtyard had a two-story residential block made from brick and surrounded by a defensive wall with circular towers at each corner. It was remodelled in the 18th century.
With its external facades richly articulated with tracery the castle shows late-Gothic elements. However, it gained its current shape in 1772 when the tympanum of the southern wing together with the massive arcades to the courtyard were built. At that time the other wings were already serving as granaries, with wine and tithe cellars beneath them. The basement also provided space for a prison.
The castle was commissioned by Filippo Scolari - Pipo de Ozora as he was known in Hungary - who was the son of a Florentine merchant family living in Hungary.
The castle today is a museum.
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Kőszeg - Jurisics Castle

History
The walled town and the castle within were part of the national defence system. The Gothic inner castle built in the 13th-14th-century was later refurbished in a Renaissance and Baroque style.
The castle evolved continuously from the 13th-century onwards. Not only of a strategic and defensive nature, it also had a status role as the centre of the Kőszeg estate. To this day the castle's twin character has been preserved and it is easy to imagine both the outer and the inner castle surrounded by a moat. Although today a stone bridge leads towards the gate of the outer castle, the stone sockets above the gate bear witness to the former drawbridge.
In the outer castle courtyard is a statue of castle defender Nikola Jurisic (Jurisics Miklós) as well as part of the castle's former outbuildings. The stone bridge leading to the inner castle was laid following dismantlement of the drawbridge.
The trapezoid inner castle courtyard is framed by an arcade erected on the second storey following a 1777 fire. From the courtyard only the eastern wing has retained its original shape. Passing the so-called 'stairway house' visitors may enter the exhibition halls of the Jurisics Castle Museum (Vármúzeum) from where the splendid facade of the Kőszegi Palace (1279-90) can be enjoyed. Another stairway leads up to the knights' hall built between 1392 and 1441. In the north wing Gothic ornamental wall paintings have been preserved. Several decades later, from 1483 to 1490 the late Gothic-early Renaissance row of windows was created along with Renaissance wall paintings and sgraffito. The castle's east and south wings were constructed from the second half of the 15th to the first half of the 16th century. From 1616 to 1695 the inner courtyard was once again refurbished.
The castle owes its name to its captain and defender during the Turkish period, Nikola Jurisics. Some also call it Esterházy Castle given that the Esterházy family owned it for the longest period of 236 years.
Today the castle is home to the Jurisics Community Centre and to the exhibitions of the Castle Museum.
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Eger Castle

History
Eger is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Hungary. Situated in the northeast, the town is rich in historic monuments and famous for its wines and medicinal waters.

St. Stephen, first king of Hungary, founded a bishopric in Eger sometime between 1001 and 1009 AD. The town’s ecclesiastical importance led to the construction of a stone fortress for its protection in 1248, built around a Romanesque cathedral. Over the next several hundred years, high- and late-Gothic cathedrals were built to replace this church, which had since fallen into ruin. The episcopal seat, situated within the castle precinct, enjoyed its golden age during the 15th century Renaissance, when the town was one of the country’s most important cultural centres. By the 16th century, the Turkish invasion was in full swing, with Buda falling in the 1540’s. In 1552 the Turks turned their attention to one of the biggest obstacles in the region, the fortress of Eger. The Hungarian defenders, only two thousand strong, managed to withstand a five-week siege by a force about forty times its size. This heroic show of defiance is considered to be one of the most outstanding military events in Hungarian history, and was immortalized in Géza Gárdonyi’s world-famous historical novel, Egri Csillagok (lit. “The Stars of Eger” though the English translation used the alternate title “Eclipse of the Crescent Moon”).

The fortress of Eger, now a protected historic monument, is the site of the István Dobó Castle Museum. Permanent exhibitions cover the history of the castle, the underground fortification system (Casemates), while another exhibits the medieval forms of punishment. Carvings from the destroyed cathedral can be seen in the lapidarium, while the marble sarcophagus of István Dobó, the heroic captain of the fortress during the 1552 siege, can be found in the Heroes’ Hall. The Art Gallery, also hosted in the castle, has one of the finest art collections in Hungary with works by Dutch, Italian, Austrian, and Hungarian masters.

There are also various programmes offered to visitors alongside the exhibitions to illustrate the historical traditions of the fortress.
source: ISTVÁN DOBÓ CASTLE MUSEUM

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