Esterhazy Palace Tour

10/12/2012


Two days of travel with the other 10 Hungarian Fulbright Scholars and their families. The Fulbright program sponsors 3-4 events per year for the Scholars to network as well as learn about other areas of the country in which they are stationed.  Many have teaching assignments in Budapest, a couple in Pecs (Page), and Debrecen which is South of Budapest at a Medical University.

This was the first of the sponsored programs for the 2012-2013 academic year. We traveled together to Fertod, Hungary where we had a guided tour of the Esterhazy Palace (The Versailles of Hungary) which was one of the Palaces built during the Hapsburg Empire.  Magnificent! seems hardly enough to describe the over the top grandeur of this building which has been restored to its original plan.

http://www.esterhazy-palace.com/en/history/the_esterhazy_family.html  - if the words show up in Hungarian -  right click your mouse anywhere on the page & choose translate to English or possibly chose English from the top right hand corner for language on the page.

Esterhazy Palace - Fertod, Hungary

Inside the Palace is amazing and trimmed in gold everywhere.  The Palace was once restored during the 2nd Golden Age.  After WWII the palace was left to deteriorate with much of the furniture being removed & the Gold trim taken away during the war. Reconstruction began in 1959 preparing for the possibility of tourism.  In 2009 the Hungarian government began funding for a full scale restoration encouraging tourism to the area.  The funding is ongoing and the results are Amazing!!  It is worth the effort to travel to this small town in Western Hungary for a visit to the Esterhazy Palace and nearby restaurant.

Esterhazy Palace - Entrance Ceiling 

Amazing intricate gold trim is everywhere in the Palace

As a person who is always cold and with the Hungarian winters as cold and snowy as Iowa, I wondered how they heated such a large space.  The answer is in the Stone Corners of the rooms.  The rooms of the Palace are strategically place so the the 4 corners join together and are heated with Stone Alcoves connected to a coal, or lumber burning furnace in the basement.  The Corner Statues serve both as aesthetic beauty as well as functional heating from the base of the Statue.  The stone alcoves help to radiate heat toward the room and protect the walls as well.   The guide told us that several of the alcoves had been discovered under plaster walls during reconstruction.

Esterhazy Palace - Corner House Heater

It's past 2pm - When do we eat Lunch?

Just across the Street from the Palace was a wonderful restaurant that served authentic Hungarian style   (Big) lunch.  Starter: Majgombocleves (Hungarian Liver Dumpling Soup) in a clear chicken broth with carrots and onions.  Main Course: Pork Tenderloins wrapped in bacon with rice and pickled veggies.  Dessert: palacsinta (hungarian pancakes) with chocolate syrup & fruit filling.

Next Stop - Pan- European 1989 Reunion Picnic & Sopron tour