The Renaissance castle in Murska Sobota

The Murska Sobota Castle (the former Szápáry Castle) was first mentioned in 1255 as the Bel Mura mansion, where the Count Palatine and the Slavonic Ban Roland used to regulate financial and cadastral issues. As the administrative seat of landed estate it was given to the noble family Széchy in the late 14th Century and in its place the family built a rectangualr two-storey renaissance castle with protruding rectangualar corner turrets in the late 16th Century. In 1687 the castle was purchased by Peter Szápáry and in 1934 the Municipality of Murska Sobota purchased it from his heirs. The present look of the castle originates mainly from the early 18th Century when the courtyard tracts were enclosed by arcades and both entrance portal were additionally modelled. The older concept of the northern portal and some hidden renaissance windows confirm that the northern facade is the oldest part of the castle which is nowadays ornamented by a baroque-like three-axis risalto. The eastern facade features a remarkable baroque portal from the early 18thCentury which originally had been a part of the Budapest palace Grassalkovich which was destroyed in the late 19thCentury. As regards the inside of the castle a remarkable castle reception room from the mid 18th Century has been preserved, painted in the late-baroque illusionistic style with an iconographic creation of the peace allegory, believed to have been created by Johannes Pöckl. An interesting part is also the former castle chapel which is now used for wedding ceremonies. In the place of the former altar part there are 'dark' paintings by the local painter Sandi Červek arranged  in a vertical axis. The castle also houses the Pomurje Museum Murska Sobota.