- Noémi Vizi
- Photos: Borbély Levente RECHungary
- Reading time: 2 minutes
The Szily Castle of Gödreszentmárton
Our next destination is the Szily Castle, located next to the main road in Gödreszentmárton, Baranya County. The history of the settlement dates back to the Middle Ages; however, it became depopulated during the Ottoman occupation1. The owner of the castle was the Szily family, whose history we present in this article.
The first ancestor of the Szily family to settle in Hungary was Márton Szily (1662–1724), who moved from Croatia to Somogy County2 with his mother after the death of his father. As a young man, he married Zsuzsanna Frankovics, and their marriage gave birth to Ádám (1716–1785), whose ambition was to increase the family’s estates. He did everything possible to achieve this goal and managed to rise into the wealthy middle nobility; however, he was unable to maintain this position. The acquisition of estates took an unexpected turn, and he eventually lost even the ancient Szily family lands.
A descendant of Ádám several generations later was László Szily, who served as a Member of Parliament three times between 1878 and 1887, and two years later was elected deputy lord lieutenant (alispán). He purchased the castle of Gödreszentmárton in 1875 together with his wife, Ilona Jeszenszky, and this was when the estate became the property of the Szily family3. According to historical sources, the previous owner was József Petrovszky, who had received the estate from King Charles III in 1735. The purchase placed the Szily family in financial difficulties, and in order to repay the debts, László began selling the trees from the estate’s forests, where farmland was later created. This did not bring sufficient improvement, so he divided the land into smaller parcels and sold them to small tenants in exchange for ten years of lease payments.
László and Ilona’s marriage produced five children who reached adulthood: Borbála, Tamás, Pongrác, Ádám and András Antal. The management of the Gödreszentmárton estate was taken over by Tamás, who graduated from the Agricultural Academy in Mosonmagyaróvár. At that time, this was the first and only higher agricultural education institution in Hungary. He was a world traveller who undertook study trips to Germany, France, Italy and Belgium. He returned home with countless experiences and professional knowledge. Based on his expertise, he was appointed livestock inspector and later dairy farming inspector. In 1910, he was appointed lord lieutenant (főispán) (his maternal great-grandfather József Siskovics, his grandfather Ferenc Jeszenszky and his father László Szily had all served as deputy lord lieutenants). As lord lieutenant, he considered strengthening agriculture in the county, dairy cattle breeding, wine production, public education and industry as key priorities. He held this position until 1917, when the Tisza government fell, at which point he resigned.
Turning to the family line, Tamás Szily married Mária Somssich, and they had one son, Márton. He was the last landowner of Gödreszentmárton. The memory of the Szily family is also preserved in the settlement by the Holy Cross Szily Chapel.
The castle was probably built in the 1860s, and the current building may have been created through later transformations of this original structure. What is certain is that the castle and its surrounding park were already marked on a map from 18644. The two-storey building consists of a basement level and a ground floor, with a total area of nearly 1,000 m². Several auxiliary buildings can also be found on the estate. Its protected park contains horse chestnut trees, 16 different species of maple, and spruce trees5.
Unfortunately, this castle also followed the path of decline after it lost its private ownership status and became state property. First, a post office operated here, then a school, and from 1965 a social care institution specialising in elderly care, where approximately 60 elderly residents lived. Later, the office of the agricultural cooperative (TSZ) operated here, and years afterwards it returned to private ownership. Since then, time has seemingly stood still. No significant development or preservation work has taken place, which has further worsened the condition of the castle. We hope that it will soon find a new owner who falls in love with it and restores it in a worthy manner, allowing it to shine once again in its former glory.
