Keszthely accommodation, sights, events

The two-storey town hall stands in Fo square, the main square. It was built in 1769 in the style of Louis XVI. Originally it was a single-storey building to serve as quarters at the disposal of the county authorities. Later it had several different functions.
Near the along the road connecting it to Fo square, there are several houses originally built for the principal administrators of the manor estates.
Right next to the mansion is the place where the engineer, Sandor Asboth, Kossuth's aide-de-camp and later an outstanding figure in the American War of Independence, was born in 1811. The house next to it is the birthplace of the writer, Ignac Nagy.
On the way to Fo square, we can see the Amazon Hotel, which has been rebuilt several times since its construction in the 18th century. It was visited by the poet, Mihaly Csokonai Vitez in 1798. Opposite the hotel, we find the Goldmark house, where the composer, Karoly Goldmark, was born in 1830. All these facts are commemorated by the various plaques on the walls of the buildings.
Walking away from Fo square towards Lake Balaton, we reach Helikon park, which has been gradually changed since the 1920's. The domed Helikon building, erected in the middle of the park in 1921, is characterised by its columns. Helikon was the dwelling place of muses in Greek mythology. Helikon is also the name given to the festivals organised by Gyorgy Festetics twice a year between 1817 and 1819.
The poets, Daniel Berzsenyi, Sandor Kisfaludy, and Adam Paloczi Horvath, took part in these mainly literary meetings. From the year 1958 the art festivals of the Transdanubian secondary schools have been held under the name Helikon in the town. In the park, there are statues of, or monuments to several distinguished people, such as the botanists Pal Kitaibel, and Vince Borbas, the geographer Jeno Cholnoky, the composer Bela Bartok, the painter Jozsef Egry, and the Olympic champion swimmer, Ferenc Csik.
A few minutes' walk away is the shore of Lake Balaton, where the 19th-century hotels, the pier, and the island beach built in 1892 are to be found.