Architectural sights

The Castle:

Built and rebuilt at the initiation of the Lackffy family in the late 1300s. Today it is one of the beauties of Tata. The castle had its heyday during the reign of king Zsigmond Luxembourg and Mátyás Hunyadi as a royal holiday home. The walls around the castle reflect the characteristics of romantic architecture which we owe to the Esterházy family who lived here. The building on the shore of Old Lake is still an eye-catching sight.

Esterházy Palace:

Built for the Esterházy family in the 1700s. Its northern tower room has historical importance, since Francis I., king of Hungary signed the Schönbrunn treaty among these walls.

The Romantic Artificial Ruins:

The romantic-style building imitates the ruins of a three naved church. This beautiful artwork, in the northern part of the English Garden, was designed by the French architect, Charles Moreau.

The Turkish mosque:

Legend has it that the the even octagonal, ogival building was built at a place where once the hut of a sacred Turkish hermit was.

The Small Manor:

The oldest building in the English garden was originally built as a summer mansion in copf style. Its speciality are the patio steps which depict the concentrical circles that are generated by a stone thrown into water.

The bellfry:

The pecularity of this structure, also known as clock tower, is that the woodwork was constructed without the use of nails. On the wall you can read a tablet reminiscent of the parilamentary session once held in Tata. Since 2004 the progress of time has been indicated each hour with carillon.

Roman Catholic Church of the exaltation of the holy cross:

The Church in Kossuth Square was designed by the gifted architects Anton Franz Pilgram, Jakab Fellner and József Grossmann. The interior of the two-tower church is, among others, the work of Adolf Mohl, Antal Gött, Antal Schweiger and János György Mes.

The Capuchin Monastery:

The simple exterior of the Monastery hides a compelling baroque interior. A Capuchin monks came to Tata at the invitation of József Esterházy. The three main oaths of the solitary monks – poverty, purity, submission – are also symbolized by the white rope-belt tying their brown frock.

Calvary Chapel and Look-out tower:

The Chapel and the the look-out tower are reminiscent of Jakab Fellner who had a major role in forming the baroque townscape. The Chapel was built on the foundation of St. John Church which once stood there and was later demolished. The look-out tower, which once served as a pellet moulding tower, is 40 metres high and has nearly 200 steps leading to the top.

Watermills:

The springs which were once gushing forth created excellent conditions for water mills which used hydropower. No wonder that there were about 20 watermills operating in Tata.

The Old Lake:

One of the greatest attractions of Tata. The nearly 250 hectare lake falls under the control of the international Ramsar treaty which was established for the protection of the world’s most important water habitats.It is the only town lake in Europe which serves as a temporary resting place in the autumn and winter months for tens of thousands of wild geese and other migrating birds.

The English Garden:

The first English style garden in Hungary, designed and planted by Ferenc Böhm manorial architect from 1783, still provokes us for a walk. The springs, which had abundand runoff at that time, created a unique climate and constantly wet soil. This made it possible to plant different kinds of water loving plants from around the world. Interestingly Tata was the first place where willow trees were planted in Hungary.

Cseke Lake:

This 25-hectare artifical lake, enclosed by the English Garden, was named after a Landlord called Cseke. Today it is a very popular fishing resort, with beautiful, old sycamore trees on its shore.

Calvary Hill:

On this limestone table, earlier known as Marble Hill or Saint Stephen Hill, you will find a small chapel, built by Jakab Fellner, a 40-metre-high look-out tower (once used to mould pellet), and calvary statues. The present name of the hill comes from the creator of the latter, Antal Schweiger. At the foot of the hill you can find a Geological museum. The uniqueness of the museum lies in the fact that it is the only place where you can study the fossilized sediments of 60 million years.

The botanical garden of Agostyán:

The garden was founded originally for silvicultural research in 1955. Today it is a popular sight for tourists. The garden occupies a territory of 31 hecatres, where you can find 380 evergreen and 40 deciduous species of trees and bushes. The odour of volatile oils in the galipot of the conifer leaves creates a special atmosphere.