Szigliget castle and museum

The Balaton Castle

The most spectacular castle of the Balaton Uplands is the Szigliget castle, situated on a lone rock rising high above the shores of Lake Balaton. This bastion offers breathtaking views of Lake Balaton, the “Witness Hills” of the Tapolca Basin. Completely renovated in 2013, the castle is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the Balaton reagion.

The castle was built between 1260 and 1262, by the Pannonhalma Abbey, becoming a royal estate. In the beginning, it changed hands several times, and from 1521, it became the property of the Polish family Tóti for centuries. During the Turkish wars, the castle defended Lake Balaton, and the Ottoman armies could never occupy it. In 1697, lightning struck one of it’s gunpowder towers (where else), and in 1702 the Emperor gave it’s blessing to the damaged tower, destroying it completely. The last owners of the castle, and it’s village below, were the Eszterházy family, who owned it until the end of World War II.

Major renovations were finally concluded by the end of 2013, and from Spring of 2014, the sights of the now completely redesigned castle, can be enjoyed by all.