The name Botfa has been preserved in old yellowed documents since 1386 (recorded then as Bathfalwa), and we know that in medieval times it belonged to the Csatár Abbey. For many centuries, the estate was held by the noble Erdődy family, who around 1750 built a single-storey Baroque manor house here, surrounded by an English-style landscape garden, the fore-runner of today’s castle park, once affectionately known as “Ánglis.”

With only brief interruptions, the family remained in Botfa until the late 19th century. In 1880 the new owner, Áron Hirschler, reshaped the mansion, extending it on both sides and adding a romantic turret.

The estate later passed to his son, József Hüvös, who was deported to a concentration camp in 1944 due to his Jewish heritage. After the Second World War, the abandoned mansion was stripped of its furnishings while locals sought new uses for the building: over the decades it served as a school, sewing workshop, cinema and residential quarters.

Once employing dozens of servants in its peak time, the Erdődy–Hüvös Mansion has been functioning as an accommodation facility since 2007. Maintaining its role as a youth centre, the building has been operated by the Notre Dame Canonesses and Teaching Order since autumn 2012.

The photo depicts the Erdődy–Hüvös Mansion, today the Mindszenty Youth House.

Photo: Mindszenty Youth House.