The Savoy Castle is an 18th-century Baroque style palace. Construction of the spacious home was begun in 1702 at the commissioning of Prince Eugene of Savoy and finished in approximately 1722. Prince Eugene of Savoy acquired Csepel Island in 1698, and thereafter began the planning process of this 'maison de plaisance'.
Eugene commissioned Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, a student of the Roman Carlo Fontana, to design the castle. Seven letters from Hildebrandt to the prince remain in the archives of the Gonzaga family in Mantua and evidence planning and construction information about the castle.
The castle has side-wings which were completed in 1714, and the whole construction process was finished around 1720 to 1722. The prince did not reside in Ráckeve mansion after it was finished, and following his death, the estate was appropriated by the Crown.
Under the reign of Maria Theresia of Austria, the mansion and the adjoining land in Csepel was managed by the Hungarian Chancery. In 1814, the middle part of the mansion, along with the stately Baroque cupola, was destroyed by fire; what is seen today was rebuilt after the fire.
Until its reconstruction in the 1980s, the mansion suffered constant decline. The castle has enjoyed renovation and revitalization, and it is now used as a hotel, which is called the Savoyai Mansion Hotel.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.