One of the most beautiful Baroque manor houses in the Prešov region with its four towers is a dominant feature of the picturesque town under the Slanské Hills - Hanušovce nad Topľou.
At the turn of the 17th and 18th century the new owners of Hanušovice became the Dessewffy family. The imposing mansion in the Renaissance-Baroque style was built by the brothers Joseph and Tomas Dessewffy, who were in the service of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary (1740 - 1780). The Latin text on the marble plaque in the interior of the manor tells about it.
The owners of the manor - the Dessewffy family - came from Cernek, in the Požega region of western Slavonia (eastern Croatia). At the beginning of the 16th century, during the Turkish invasions, the Dessewffy estate fell into the hands of the Turks. Jan Dessewffy therefore fled to Bratislava with several documents from the family archives. After the Battle of Mohács (1526), the struggle for the Hungarian throne between Jan Zápoľský and Ferdinand Habsburg began. The Dessewffy family had always been loyal to the king, and this tradition was followed by the aforementioned John, who, although not a soldier, put himself at the political service of King Ferdinand. He was a royal chamberlain, confidant, member of the Order of Rhodesian Titans, counsellor and then president of the Hungarian Chamber and administrator of the royal court in Bratislava. For his loyalty, the king rewarded John Dessewffy appropriately - he gave him the estates belonging to Kamenica Castle (Kamenica nad Torysou). From this Kamenica branch of the Dessewffy family came also the owners of the Great Manor of Hanušov.
The two-storey block building with rich stucco decoration of windows was hidden in the greenery of the park, fragments of which have also been preserved until now. The layout of the rooms inside the mansion shows the application of the Baroque principle of axiality. The rooms are vaulted with lunette vaults. The vaulted bays have rich stucco decoration. In the exterior, the silhouette of the building is determined by the interplay of the mansard roof and the bell-shaped roofs of the towers, which rhythmise the architecture. The stucco decoration of the windows is also rich. The main entrance portal has side pilasters with a supraport, which originally housed an inscription panel (now in the museum) and a shield with a stone coat of arms The Dessewffys.
The grounds of the manor also included a large park, which was created at the end of the 19th century by rebuilding the original ornamental garden from the middle of the 18th century. Although the park is now registered as a national cultural monument, only a fragile torso of the original extensive grounds has survived to this day.
The building of the Great Manor House is currently the seat of the Museum of Homeland History Hanušovce nad Topľou, which is responsible for the documentation of history and nature in the district of Vranov nad Topľou.
Source/Photo: Town of Hanušovce nad Topľou
