Léka

The castle was built in the 13th century against German attacks. It was the first castle made of stone in the western borderland. Its name was first mentioned in historical records as Leuca, during the Mongol invasion. At first it was a royal palace, then it was given to bailiff Bana. In the second half of the 13th century it was obtained by Németújváry family. Then Charles of Anjou seized it from the family and King Sigismund of Luxemburg gave it to Kanizsai family at the end of the 14th century. In 1535 Tamás Nádasdy got it as Ursula Kanizsai’s marriage portion. Lord Chief Justice Ferenc Nádasdy was accused of being involved in Wesselényi’s anti-Habsburg plot and was sentenced to death. Prince Pál Eszerházy purchased his confiscated estates in 1676. It was in possession of Eszterházy family until the beginning of the 20th century. The writer Paul Anton Keller purchased it in 1956, who established a museum and a hotel here. One of the two towers of the castle is the rectangular Chapel Tower was built in the 13th century. Its carved windows are early Gothic. In the bays of the windows early frescos were also found. The castle prison was in the underground part of the pentagonal Old Tower. The Hall of Knights is also from the 13th century. 6 octagonal columns hold the arches of the two-aisle hall. Ferenc Nádasdy built the Lower Castle in 1636. The town underneath the castle-hill was granted the title of market town in the 15th century. It took a long time for the town to recover from the devastation of the Turkish siege on 1532. Until 1880 it belonged to Sopron County, then it was given back to Vas county. Ferenc Nádasdy built St Michale Church according to Pietro Orsolini’s plans between 1655 and 1669. The nave is 18 m while the tower is 57.5 m high. György Kéry from Kőszeg painted the main altarpiece representing Bishop Michael and monk Michael. The statues of the main altar represent St. Stephen, Imre, Borbála and Elizabeth. In the crypt under the church you can find the red marble sarcophagus of Ferenc Nádasdy in the middle. On the right there are Tamás Nádasdy and Ursula Kanizsai’s Renaissance tombstones. The palace next to the church was originally built as a monastery. The Mary statue in the square was built in 1719 in memory of a plague.