Mezőhegyes Castle Hotel in Hungary

Mezőhegyes is the centre of Hungarian horse breeding and horse racing on the Great Hungarian Plain. About 215 kilometres from Budapest, situated In the South-East of Hungary between Szeged and Gyula, this town has a more than 700-year old state-owned horse farm, now a registered historical monument. Its existence is due to a Hungarian nobleman who pursued a military career and to an enlightened monarch. The story goes like this: on December 20, 1784, Emperor Joseph II, following the advice of young Jozsef Csekonics, founded a "Royal and Imperial Horse Institute" to provide horse supply for the transportation and military needs of the Habsburg Empire.

Buildings of the horse farm, divided to farmsteads, were designed by two famous architects From Pest, Jozsef Jung and János Hild, in Louis XVI and Empire style. Their resourcefulness and the modern character and utilitarian beauty of the farm is impressive to this day. Today three types of horses are bred in the farm: Noniuses, Mezőhegyes racing horses (also known as Hungarian half-breds) and trotters. The 250 horses are kept in 3 separate stud-farms. In the representative centre one will find the central stable, which has a piers-of-arch facade and a riding hall, which is the oldest operational riding hall in Hungary and hosts horse riding events on a regular basis. Both of them were designed by Hild. Old horse-driven coaches, cabs and sleighs are exhibited in the adjoining coach museum. Opposite the stable is the representative baroque-style north wing of the Former barracks, designed by Jung, which is now a hotel.

Hotel Nonius, named after one of the three breeds, has 20 double rooms, fully equipped with bathroom, television set and telephone. The suites in the vaulted ground floor, rooms have period furniture. Having seen the horse farm, visitors may choose from various riding and hunting activities, such as seeing the horses in the fields, taking a coach ride or, in the winter, a sleigh ride, a horse ride or a riding course. In the summer there are agricultural fairs and international horse and racing events.