Siklos Castle

Siklos is unusual among Hungarian castles in never having been destroyed and abandoned: it was held through the Ottoman period, adapted afterwards, and has been in continuous use ever since, so what stands is a layered building rather than a ruin, with medieval walls and bastions, a Gothic chapel with fine net vaulting and carved detail, Renaissance and Baroque residential wings and a courtyard. A castle museum runs through the rooms, including a display on the Ottoman century and the dungeon. The town below keeps a small Ottoman mosque converted to other use, and the Villany wine villages and the Harkany thermal baths are both within a few kilometres.

History

The castle was built in the 13th century and is first mentioned in a charter of 1294 as the property of the Soklyosi family; in 1387 King Sigismund took it from them after a failed rebellion and it passed to the Garai family, and in 1401 rebellious nobles briefly imprisoned Sigismund himself here. Its chapel dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, by the 16th century it belonged to the palatine Imre Perényi and from 1728 to the Batthyány counts, and after restoration began in 1955 it opened as a museum and hotel, reopening again in 2011 after renovation (Wikipedia, Castle of Siklós).

What's there

• A castle never left to ruin - continuous occupation since the Middle Ages.
• The Gothic chapel vault - carved net vaulting inside the walls.
• Layered building periods - medieval, Renaissance and Baroque in one structure.
• The Ottoman mosque in the town - a survival from the occupation.

When to go

April to October. Two to three hours. Combine with Villany or Harkany, both close. Closed some Mondays.

Good to know

Museum displays are dated in places and mostly labelled in Hungarian. The castle is smaller inside than the walls suggest. Siklos town itself is unremarkable.

Nearby

Harkany spa is west; Villany and its cellars lie east.

Key facts