Károlyi Castle Park

The 100-acre historical garden that surrounds the Károlyi-stately home of Fehérvárcsurgó in Hungary is situated in the County of Fejér, 80 km from Budapest, 200 km from Vienna. It has been in the ownership of the family since the mid 1830’s until its nationalization in 1945 by communist authorities. The family was then forced to leave Hungary and settled in France.

In 1999, the Joseph Károlyi Foundation founded by Georges Károlyi, the son of the last owner, decided to take charge of the renovation of the whole estate, with the support of the Hungarian government.

While the stately home had been built by the Austrian architect Heinrich Koch (1781-1861) in an “U” shape at the edge of a vast lawn, the design of the park was conceived at the beginning of the 20^th century by the Hungarian landscape architect János Hein (1866-1935), who was awarded a gold medal for his garden design at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.

Today the main courtyard is renovated with its bronze fountain in the octagonal pool surrounded by lawns bordered by boxwood embroidery inspired by French gardens. The renovation of the bewildered park has been carried out according to Hein’s eclectic original design, combining Baroque landscape gardening with Art Nouveau elements: a geometric pleasure ground, a neo-Baroque terraced garden next to the “lace terrace” and the gravel paths lined with flowerbeds, the black pine forest and two rock gardens.

Another feature of the park is the white “gloriette”, located on an island in the middle a 3-acre lake: topped by a copper dome and supported by wooden columns, it is again the focal point of the perspectives of the whole garden.

Various flower beds have been created (roses, iris, narcissus and wildflowers), as well as discrete leisure and sports facilities for children and adults. A dendrological trail is now being mapped out in the arboretum part of the garden, in cooperation with the International Dendrology Foundation. A small library upon gardens, plants and nature has been created and botanical guided tours are regularly organized.