700-year-old Hungarian palace to be turned into a public toilet

From a town hall to a palace, from a nobleman’s residence to tenements, now a public toilet. That is the sad fate of the 700-year-old Zichy-Meskó Palace in Sopron, Western Hungary.

The renovation of the 700-year-old Zichy-Meskó Palace in Sopron started a few years ago with a much more ambitious plan. However, instead of a three-storey museum, only the ground floor of the listed building in the heart of the city will be used: and it will be a public toilet block.

Brief history of the Sopron palace

From a town hall to a palace, from a nobleman’s residence to tenements, and now a public toilet. This is how the seven 700-year history of the Zichy-Meskó Palace can be summed up in a single sentence, according to a Telex report. The listed building was certainly already standing in 1370. It was donated to Sopron by King Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1422, and back then, it became the town hall. In the 18th century, it was transformed into a noble palace.

Six years ago, the plan was to renovate the palace under the Modern Cities Programme (Modern Városok Program). The previous mayor had envisaged a local ’56 collection and a pan-European picnic museum in the three-storey building. The plans were already drawn up, but the story took a strange turn.

Renovated but still neglected

According to Telex, the building is still in a very poor state, despite the fact that the roof, plinth and façade were indeed renovated by 2021. The interior remains neglected, with only the fresco in the banqueting hall being conserved.

In response to a question from Telex, neither the Sopron notary nor the competent government office gave any reason why the town should open a public toilet in a listed palace. According to the article, the idea behind the plan is that the conditions in the only toilet in the town centre with an automatic door that can be used for HUF 100 are “always sub-standard”.

However, anonymous experts in the field of heritage conservation believe that it is still better for the Zichy-Meskó Palace to become a public toilet than to remain empty. At least then the building will be heated.

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