Visegrád and Danube-bend

The history of the citadel dates back to the mid-11th century. The double fortress system of Visegrád was built by King Béla IV and his wife around the years 1250-1260. In the later periods King Károly Róbert who made this city a capital, extended the fortress, and the famous king meeting of 1335 took place here as well. The fortress was further modernised during Sigismund of Luxemburg, and the Women’s House was presumably finished around this time. During the reign of King Matthias Corvinus the palace wings of the fortress were completely renovated. During the centuries the saint crown and the crown jewels were kept in the fortress several times. During the Turkish times the fortress suffered huge damage, and in 1544 the Turks occupied it. After that it had been alternately occupied by Turkish and Hungarian troops until the Turks finally left the almost completely ruined fortress. The first attempts to restore the fortress took place in the beginning of the1870s and they still continue in our days.

Today’s visitors can enjoy several interesting exhibitions upon the visit to the Citadel:

• Historical exhibition of the fortress
• Reconstructed model of the fortress system and fortress
• Historical exhibition of the saint crown
• Waxworks
• Hunting, fishing and farming exhibition

The Royal Palace of Visegrád is a building complex built between the 14th and 15th century in Visegrád, which first served as a permanent residence and later as a country residence for contemporary rulers of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary until the end of the Turkish occupation.In the building located in the heart of the city of Visegrád today we can find the King Matthias Corvinus Museum of the Hungarian National Museum. The Royal Palace is a 10-minutes drive away.

The show takes place in the knights’ tournament field located near the Salamon Tower. The members of the Saint George Order of Knighthood conjure up the courage and audacity of medieval knights through spectacular duels in an exciting and true-to-life manner, occasionally with humour. The show gets more exciting with the fly of the royal common buzzard. As a closing stage of the show the guests have the opportunity to test medieval weapons with the help of the knights.

A trip on the Danube promising to be a special treat from spring to autumn. During the cruise we can admire the picturesque scenery, Visegrád with the Citadel rising above the Danube, the Salamon Tower, and the Börzsöny mountain ranges on the other shore.

The Zsitvay lookout tower was built in 1933 on the top of the 378 meter high Nagyvillám. When the weather is clear the capital and its 100 kilometres surroundings can be seen from here, from the Mátra Mountains to the Pilis Mountains and the Zsámbék Basin. Thanks to the benevolence of forest engineer András Vízkert in charge of the lookout tower, this can be a special experience. The light tour of a few hundred meters starts in the parking lot of Hotel Silvanus.