The surrounding royal forests provided many opportunities for relaxation and hunting. Hotel Grand Vígľaš**** has 55 rooms in eight categories. The omnipresent touch of history and elegance enhances the feeling of staying in a castle. You can enjoy a tasty lunch or a romantic dinner in the a la carte restaurant Ava Simone. The hotel’s restaurant, Anjou Court, also serves guests. Fine whiskeys, rums and cigars can be enjoyed in the Dragon Cigar Bar. The castle is also a popular venue for weddings and celebrations. Say your I Do in the Gothic chapel or the Knight’s Hall and experience a fairytale wedding until dawn. Combine the past with the present during your congresses, seminars, and training sessions in an undisturbed environment, or relax in the hotel’s Queen Barbara Wellness Center.

Travel back in time with your family, friends and acquaintances to medieval times and take a guided tour of the castle. The seat of the Hungarian kings is waiting for you!

History of the Castle

The beginning of the occupation of the rocky hillside over the river Slatina can be assumed in the early Middle Ages when the Slavic fortification was present in this area. Later the monastery was established, probably governed and owned by the Templars. After their demise the property was probably in the hands of another order, the Johanniters (later called the Maltese Knights) or King Carol Robert of Anjou. Louise I. built a castle residence in Vígľaš, later completed and rebuilt as a hunting lodge by Sigismund of Luxembourg. Sigismund of Luxembourg and his wife Barbara Celje founded the Order of the Dragon in 1408.

In the second half of the 16th century, the castle played an important role in the anti-Turkish battles. At that time a new fortification including four corner towers were added to the castle and guarded by a permanent military crew. In 1605 the castle was briefly occupied by Stefan Bockay`s uprising rebels.

Later it became the private property of Feudal families, first being owned by the Csáky family, then from 1690 by the Esterházy family until the end of feudalism. The Esterházy family changed the character of the property to a manor house and so very little had been preserved from its original architecture – only the Gothic Chapel and a part of the fortification. The castle was last restored in the second half of the 19^th century.

During World War II it was damaged and burnt to a large extent.   In 2007 the ruins of the castle were bought by the Rekitar family. We can now admire the castle in its full glory with the tasteful and thoughtful extensive reconstruction and refurbishments which were completed in 2013 by the family of the present owners.