Várgesztes Castle Tourist Hotel

The 14th century Castle of Gesztes is situated south from Várgesztes village (Komárom-Esztergom county) on the 376 m top of a hill 1.5 km from the village. It lies alongside the North-Vertes Nature Conservation Area surrounded by dense forests and used to be one of the most significant member of the Vértesszőlős castle system. The first written relics date back to the 13th century and mention the territory as possession of Csák family. The first charters recognising the Gesztes Castle are originated from 1326, 1332, 1335 when it used to be a royal castle sometimes put into pledge. At the beginning it served mainly as a hunting residence for our kings: in 1399 King Zsigmond and his wife Maria; in 1435 Prince Albert; in 1495 II. Ulászló King spent some time here. The defence-type reconstruction of the castle was urged by the Turkish danger. Gesztes was attacked by Turks first in 1529 without any success but in 1543 they captured the fort. Afterwards it had been having several owners and the Hungarians recaptured it back finally in 1605 when it was still defensible. It is guarded by foot soldiers till 1629. From the middle of the 17th century the castle`s period of decay starts under the ownership of the Eszterházy Family who keep it until 1945. Still, compared to other castles this remained in good condition: the Eszterházys didn`t let anybody to take a single stone away only from certain parts of the fort and only with the allowance of Eszterházy himself. The excavation and reconstruction and rebuilding of the castle - owned by the Hungarian state from 1945- was conducted according to the relic preservation regulations between 1960-63. The Castle Guest House and Restaurant opened its gates in 1964 and since then it welcomes its visitors, tourists. The former so called inner castle with its two floors has symmetrical quadrangular ground-plan and located between the two unequal wings in the closed castle-yard. The first floor includes the Castle bar with 30 seats, the kitchen, the former Knights` room which functions now as a restaurant of 120 people, and the tourist resting area. The upper level is occupied by the 7 rooms of the guest house which can accommodate 120 people in rooms with 8-12-16-30 beds. The showers and toilettes are commonly used. The rooms can be heated by glazed tile stove so are available all year around. The outside stairs starting from the yard lead to the guest house and to the look-out of the terrace - you can enjoy the splendid panorama of the small village and the forests of Vertes. The castle of Várgesztes invites everybody who would like to enjoy peace, quietness, the beauties of nature, the clean "historic" air and the romantic atmosphere: tourists, students, open air school students, wandering campers, families, and excursionists. We accept groups from 8 members and can ensure full board on request. The castle is accessible from Tatabánya situated next to Highway M1 and railway line no. 1 by car or by scheduled buses. Its distance from Tatabánya is 20 km.