Godollo Palace

About

Godollo Palace was built by Count Antal Grassalkovich I in the mid-18th century. However, after his line died out in 1841, the palace became the summer residence of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef I and his wife Elizabeth in 1867. Elizabeth, or ‘Sissi’ as she was fondly known, was particularly enamored with the estate, much preferring the freedom offered here to the pressures of the ‘Imperial crowd’ in Vienna. After being used as a barracks and retirement home under the Communist regime the palace lost much of its original luster, but intensive restoration work that began in 1980 have returned 32 rooms to their imperial splendor, complete with original furnishings recovered from museums and auctions abroad. A tour of the palace brings visitors into Franz Joseph’s regal red apartments, Sissi’s lavender private apartments with their secret passages, and the ornate Ornamental Hall, dripping with gold tracery, stucco and chandeliers. For more information, please visit royalpalacegodollo.com