The symbol and significant sight of Várpalota is the castle which is situated in the downtown and it is named after György Thury, the most famous fortress protector of the town.
The adventurous story of the fortress goes back to the time of King Matthias and it attaches most of all to the Turkish age to the border fortress battles. The lord of the fortress was Miklós Újlaki, the godfather of Matthias’s illegal son, János Corvin. Matthias Hunyadi asked Újlaki to escort Princess Beatrix, the daughter of the king of Naples, to Hungary with pompous attendance. Beatrix got ready at the fortress of Várpalota for the next day’s queen coronation in Székesfehérvár on 11th of December in 1476.
After the death of King Matthias, Miklós Újlaki’s son, Lőrinc organized a strong army to help János Corvin to the throne but Beatrix took a poor view of it. In this time the crown and the regalia were brought from the fortress of Buda to the fortress of Várpalota because of the prevention of Ulászló’s coronation.
The jewels could not keep because Beatrix sent the Black Army for getting back the crown.
The time after 1526 László Móré robber knight occupied the fortress. He was rousted out in 1533 during the time of the dual-kingdom.
Later on the fortress of Várpalota became a border fortress which protected its walls contrary to the Turkish attacks. The building had the biggest siege during the time of Thury. Arslan pasha from Buda attacked it with eight thousand people in 1566 but Thury protected his fortress against the Turkish. The fortress had burnt in 1580 then Tamás Pálffy, the captain of the fortress, had restored it. The fortress was in Hungarian and Turkish hand too. After this era, the fortress was rebuilt and reached its actual form.
Under the excavation unique medieval frescos were turned up. They are interesting because they do not represent spiritual events. Thury fortress is the part of the national heritage.
ikonnal bővítheti túráját.
