Whispers from centuries past echo around the Fáy-kastély. This Baroque castle stands in the village of Fáj. It is located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. This is in northern Hungary. Fáj is a small village with only a few hundred residents.
The Fáy family received Fáj in 1243. King Béla IV gifted it to Rugács and his sons. This was for their bravery in the Battle of Muhi in 1241. By 1292 the family was named after the estate. Over the centuries the Fáy family produced statesmen. They also had bishops, soldiers and scholars.
Documents show a Fáy family castle existed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The current Fáy-kastély was built around 1750. It was built on the site of the older building. Some elements of the original building were reused.
The Fáy-kastély was renovated twice in the 19th century. The first renovation was in the early 1800s. The second was in the 1840s. This was a larger Classicist reconstruction. Count István Fáy owned the castle at this time. This was the castle’s golden age. Marco Casagrande created reliefs for the ballroom and facade. The Count loved music. His “Musical Academies” made the Fáy-kastély famous nationwide.
The next major renovation took place in the late 1930s. The design of the noble curia cleverly uses the terrain. The building is partly one-story and partly two-story. The Fáy family built the Baroque castle on the hillside in the mid-18th century.
During its heyday Count István Fáy hosted musical gatherings. He called them “Musical Academy”. These happened three times a year. A notable feature is the grand hall. It boasts massive stucco reliefs depicting mythological scenes.
A small landscape park once surrounded the Fáy-kastély. A stream fed a small lake in the park. Today the Fáy-kastély stands as a testament to the Fáy family. It also represents Hungary’s rich history. The Fáy-kastély continues to whisper stories of its past. Its walls have seen centuries of change.