We didn't plan any summer vacation this year because of our garden, but when our neighbor suggested that he would water our plants while we're gone we couldn't refuse his offer. We didn't have much time to plan, so we decided to go to Slovakia and spend some time with our family.
His offer came at a great time and we were able to leave in the weekend of our 12th wedding anniversary, so we could do something special to celebrate. We booked a room in the Château Appony and enjoyed a unique experience. I have never stayed in a former mansion before!
Château Appony is located in Oponice which is a bit more than an hour drive from Bratislava. Oponice is a tiny village with less than 1000 inhabitants, so we were surprised to learn about this hotel. Frankly, there is nothing to do in the village, but Oponice is situated in a picturesque region which is worth a visit. Also, the mansion and its surroundings are greatly popular for weddings and other celebrations.
We left home at 4AM to arrive in Oponice 11 hours later. The traffic was terrible, it was way too hot and we were exhausted when we arrived. We didn't sleep that night and we were so ready for bed, but we were also excited to walk around and explore the mansion that our sleep had to wait for a few more hours.
The mansion was built during the 16th and 17th century and was reconstructed 15 years ago after its long and turbulent history. It was built by the Apponyi family which was one of the most important and wealthy families in the Hungarian empire. Thanks to their presence in Oponice, the village became a popular place for royals, diplomats, poets, singers or actors who came here to spend time with the family and relax in their estate.
The last Appony owner of the mansion was Henrich Apponyi who died with no descendants and the mansion was sold to another family until it was nationalized after the World War II and left in decay. History
Today, the mansion serves as a luxury hotel with thematic rooms, large gardens and wellness centrum. In the courtyard we can see some items reminding us of the past such as this old cannon, carriages in the back or a well.
The mansion is reconstructed with attention to detail considering its historical value, but also looking at all needs of the modern customer at the same time. The only thing that is missing is a lift, but since there are only two floors it was no problem for us.
Behind the well we can see the door to the library. When we checked in to our room we went there as we thought it was a normal library where we could borrow some books. We were so wrong! We arrived there to learn that we can visit the library only with a guide and we got so intrigued that we postponed our sleep even more. We were lucky as we only had to wait for about 15 minutes for another tour, so we purchased our tickets at the reception and planned to wander around the courtyard a little longer. The entrance ticket to the library is 6 EUR per person and it is worth it! The tour takes about 30 minutes and you can ask any questions in the end. The tour guide spoke English, so it was easy also for my husband to follow.
It was way too hot for those 15 minutes outside, so we quickly entered the library hall and waited for our guide there. Our tour started shortly and we were surprised to see what is hidden behind that simple door. Let's have a look!
Welcome to the library! The Apponyi family collected books for centuries and their collection had originally around 30000 books. The library was in Vienna, then in Bratislava before it was moved to Oponice after this wing was added to the mansion in the 19th century. Today, we can see there about 17000 books as part of the collection was lost during the war and nationalization. I asked our guide which book was the most important but he couldn't say as it's impossible to calculate the value of the collection. What he said was that the oldest book is locked in a safe.
As I mentioned, the mansion was visited by many important personalities and this library is the place to learn about them. There are many items related to those guests that you will see during your visit.
The most important visitors were Theodore Roosevelt, John Alec Baker, Patial Maharaja or the millionaire Thomas Drake Martinez Cardeza. Cardeza came to Oponice after he and his family survived Titanic tragedy. They were in one of the most luxurious suites on the boat with their servants, jewelery worth a fortune and tons of suitcases and trunks. They boarded the lifeboat and all of them survived, but the jewelery and all their possessions that they travelled with were lost forever. Mr. Cardeza came to Oponice one year after the tragedy and took part in local hunting. He also brought some valuable trophies with him that we can now see in the library.
There are two floors in the library, but we were only able to see the ground floor. Behind the wall on the second floor are representative rooms that are used for wedding ceremonies.
During the occupation, the library was used as a granary with grain being stored here along with the books. The books were saved by a political prisoner Vševlad J. Gajdoš who worked 2 months to clean and sort all the books, one by one. Thanks to him we can now admire the collection.
You might think that the billiard table was placed there only recently as you would not expect it in the library. And this is wrong. The table was used during soirees when the best singers were standing on it singing for the guests.
Žofia Apponyi was wife of Anton Apponyi who built the library in Oponice. She was considered to be the reason why Oponice became a little Paris with all its visitors.
I can only imagine the music played by this piano with a singer on the billiard table singing beautiful songs...
The savior of the library Vševlad J. Gajdoš also has his personal items showcasted. Here we can see his working table...
There are books in many languages stored in the library. I don't remember the exact number, but there were more than 10 languages. Here we can see a book in French.
Geraldine Apponyi was one of the most popular personalities of the family. She married the king of Albany and moved with him there. She was the queen of Albany for a year as then it became part of Mussolini's Italy, so they had to flee to save their lives. They left in a Mercedes that they got as a gift from Mussolini - what a paradox.
It took two years to restore this Bible. Look at how thick it is!
Each page in this book is decorated with a precious handmade flower painting...
More original books to admire, but not to touch 🙂
What do you see here? I must admit that at first I didn't see anything, but it is an original map of Paris dating back to the 18th century. If you look carefully, you might see some blurry detail...
The coat of arms of the Apponyi family...
And yes, the chandeliers were beautiful too!
At the end of our tour we saw this old bicycle. I saw many of them in old movies, but it was the first time that I saw a real one and let me tell you it is big. I have no idea how they could hop on it and manage to steer it as well.
It's been a long day, so after the tour we enjoyed an early dinner. It was still hot, but we chose to sit on a terrace as it was peaceful and there were no other guests yet.
They had no vegan dishes on the menu, but they were able to prepare a delicious meal of grilled smoked tofu and vegetables. It was a light meal and perfect for this weather.
And I can't miss these delicious sorbets. It was apricots and a mixture of some berries that they called 'forest mix'. It was yum!
We had such an amazing room that it would be a shame not to show it to you, so come with me...
The halls were decorated with some old furniture...
We need to walk up to our room...
And here we go!
You can book a standard room or you can book a thematic room. If I'm not mistaken there are 6 thematic rooms with personalities linked to the history of the chateau. We booked a room dedicated to the ruler of the Habsburg empire Maria Theresa. I remember learning about her in school and finding her pretty cool.
She was one of the most famous Habsburgs and the ruler who started the reforms in the empire. She was a kind and generous ruler who respected the rights of others, but also expected others to respect her rights too. I must say that I appreciate this concept and try to live like this too, so when I saw that 'her' room was available I booked it right away.
The decoration of the room exceeded our expectations and we will come back to the hotel to stay in other thematic rooms too. The receptionist also told us that there are some guests who come regularly and always book another room too.
Let's start in the bedroom. This bed was large and so tall! It was above my waist and I had to jump up to get on it 🙂
We had a stove in the sitting room too...
And plenty of space for a living room...
The bathroom was luxurious, but we made a mess quickly, so I will only show you the view 🙂
I know I said that we didn't sleep the night before, but there was so much to do that we didn't manage to go to bed earlier anyway. We had to walk around at dark too as we loved the lights, but we knew already that a tough morning was ahead of us.
The evening walk was beautiful and the next morning as difficult as expected. We didn't wake up on time for breakfast, but we got enough sleep and gained energy for the rest of our trip as we still had more than 400 km ahead of us. And yes, that is an eternity on the Slovak roads 🙂
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina