Jurisics Castle in Kőszeg to Be Renewed from 950 million HUF 7 April 2010
One of the key cultural and tourist attractions in Kőszeg, namely, Jurisics Castle built in the 13th century, will be renewed within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan with the help of funding amounting to 950 million HUF.
This investment may help the town of Kőszeg, which boasts the 5th highest number of historical monuments in the country, reclaim its prestigious rank as a tourist destination. Hungary has the opportunity to invest EU funding amounting to nearly 300 billion HUF over the 2007-2013 period on boosting domestic tourism.
The renewal of Jurisics Castle, costing a total of 950 million HUF to complete, will be carried out with the help of EU funding amounting to nearly 800 million HUF. Beyond presenting the walls surrounding the castle and the exhibition installed back in the 1960s, the aim of this reconstruction equally relates to offering tourist services and programmes catering for the demands of our modern era. Among others, the Knight Room, which will function as a venue for future programmes, as well as the cellar space beneath the castle, which will function as venue for knight feasts accompanied by music, will be renewed within the framework of this investment. In addition, the tourist hostel, which is currently out of use, will be converted into cultural offices, meeting rooms and small conference rooms. Activity rooms will be set up for non-profit organisations to use in the rooms located on the ground floor of the inner building of the castle. Moreover, lighting and the heating system in the castle will also be renewed.
This investment in Kőszeg, which will significantly contribute to boosting tourism in the Western Transdanubian region, is one of the 358 projects awarded a share of the nearly 170 billion HUF funding made available nationwide within the framework of the series of calls, priority projects announced back in 2007 aimed at promoting the development of tourist attractions and extending the range of accommodation venues. The total value of these investments exceeds 300 billion HUF.
So far, 34 applications submitted by the town of Kőszeg have been approved funding under calls announced within the framework of the National Development Plan and the New Hungary Development Plan. The settlement has been awarded funding amounting to a total of around 1.7 billion HUF.