Edeleny Palace

The L'Huillier-Coburg palace at Edeleny was built in the 1720s and 1730s for a French-born officer who had done well out of Habsburg service, on a scale that startles in a small town on the Bodva: a long Baroque range around a court, with a garden front down to the river. Its later history was harder. It served as a hospital, a school and offices, the interiors were divided and painted over, and it decayed until a full restoration completed in the 2010s recovered the structure and, in several rooms, remarkable eighteenth-century wall paintings found under later layers. It now runs as a cultural centre with exhibitions, and the recovered painted rooms are the reason to go.

What you actually see

• Recovered eighteenth-century wall paintings - found under later layers.
• The long Baroque range - the palace scale against a small town.
• The garden front to the Bodva - the restored grounds down to the river.
• The restoration itself - fabric recovered after use as school and hospital.

When to go

April to October. Two hours. Some rooms are used for events and close without notice. Check opening days, which are limited outside summer.

Honest expectations

Restoration is uneven and parts of the interior are plainly modern. Interpretation is mostly in Hungarian. Edeleny is a poor town with limited food and lodging. Public transport from Miskolc is slow.

Nearby

Miskolc is south; Aggtelek and the caves lie north-west.