The Nádasdy-castle of Sárvár
![The Nádasdy-castle of Sárvár](images/hy104.jpg)
We do not have enough information about the early history of the castle, but its name is a reference to the fact that the surroundings of the castle – following the the already mentionen Roman “spatial planning” – was covered by a swamp which served defensive purposes. In the first mentioning of the town in a document from 1288 János Kőszegi, the palatine, invited the noblemen from Vas county to the castle for the meeting of the county assembly. At this time the palatine was the owner of the castle. Two decades later, when the last member of the Árpád dynasty died, the Kőszegi-family, who had estates in West-Transdanubea, did not recognise the power of king Róbert Károly. Thus the ruler sent an army led by Sándor Köcski 1319 against the noble family and the army was victorious both at Zalafő and Kőszeg. Hardly a decade later Sárvár became a royal property, its castellan and reeve was Sándor Köcski, who was also the judex curiae. Both the town and the castle remained in royal hands until 1390.
The first construction works began at the end of the 13th century. Following the royal constructions the Kanizsay-family established a castle with a closed courtyard surrounded by palace wings and fortifications at the end of the 15th century. The works defining the recent shape of the castle were done under the rule of Tamás Nádasdy in the period of 1549-1562. Further major renovations took place under the guidance of judex curiae Ferenc Nádasdy III. The series of paintings on the ceiling depicting battle scenes are one of the most monumental, large-scale Hungarian Baroque pieces of art, and it is the only one which is still intact. The paintings were made by Hans Rudolf Miller 1653 and they depict the battles of Ferenc Nádasdy II., the famous “Black Bey”, against the Ottoman Empire.
The side-walls of the Knights’ Hall are decorated by paintings of istván Dorffmaister, a painter born in Vienna but living is Sopron, made 1769 with mixed technique (oil and Fresco-al Secco) showing scenes from the Old Testimony.
Even though there were smaller constructions, but visitors today will encounter a castle from the 16th-17th century when visiting it.