At a conference in Hungary organised by the local council of the County of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, the experts pressed for the castles - in Tiszadob and Monok in Hungary, and in Betliar, Krásna Hőrka and Trebiov in Slovakia - to be opened to the public and used for cultural purposes.
Before the conference, the castles' owners signed a declaration of intent on forming a co-operation. The local council of Sâncrieni, in Romania, earlier called Csíkszentkirály, when the city was part of Transylvania, also signed the declaration of intent. It was from Csíkszentkirály that the Andrássy family emigrated to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1575.
A tourism brochure for the Andrássy Cultural Road was presented at the conference. The brochure - in Hungarian, Slovakian and English - not only presents the castles along the route, but shows their surroundings, recalls their history and outlines future development plans.
The French-inspired castle in Tiszadob, which was built by Gyula Andrássy, the former foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is already being turned into a tourist attraction. The castle earlier housed an orphanage. Planners aim to turn the castle in Monok into a school-friendly museum.
In Slovakia, the castle in Betliar, which was used as a hunting lodge, already operates as a museum. In addition to many of the original furnishings, the castle boasts a 30,000-volume library. The castle was awarded a UNESCO Europa Nostra prize following its renovation in 1994.
The castle in Krásna Hőrka also houses a museum containing artifacts that once belonged to the Andrássy family. The city is also home to the Andrássy family mausoleum, in which a beautiful marble mosaic can be found.
In Trebiov, visitors to the classicist Andrássy castle can see some of the family's steam-powered farm equipment in the courtyard.
Source: Múlt-kor / Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
