Körmend Castle, Medieval castle in Körmend, Hungary.
Körmend Castle is a two-storey castle of slightly trapezoidal plan, with a round tower at each corner and a small courtyard closed inside. Its west side has the entrance gate tower, and the facade carries a terrace on six columns topped by a pediment. It stands in a park in the town centre, near the Rába.
The surviving castle was built in the mid-15th century by Baron László Szécsényi in the town's north-eastern corner; an earlier stone castle to the north-west had been destroyed in wars against regional lords. After the Ellerbach family, Tamás Bakócz, Archbishop of Esztergom, acquired it through a debt lawsuit. In 1604 the Batthyány family received it from the Habsburg monarch, and in 1664 its defenders, with French auxiliary troops, repelled Turkish forces trying to cross the Rába.
The Batthyány family shaped this place through generations, leaving their mark on how rooms were decorated and used. Visitors today see their furniture, paintings, and personal objects arranged throughout the castle's interior.
The castle opens daily and visitors can explore the restored rooms and surrounding gardens at their own pace. The site is easily reached from the town center and the grounds are laid out for walking through.
During the 1920s, a doctor named László Batthyány-Strattmann ran a free eye clinic in one wing of the castle. He spent years treating thousands of patients who otherwise could not afford medical care.
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