Fantast Castle (/), also known as Dunđerski Palace (Serbian: Дворац Дунђерски''/Dvorac Dunđerski''), is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built by

Bogdan Dunđerski Bogdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in the South Slavic languages and in Polish, Romanian and Moldovan. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning 'god', and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: д ...

from 1919 onwards. Dundjerski family originally came from

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

(

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

) in the late nineteenth century and at one point he owned 1500 hectares of land. The castle became one of the most famous castles in the

Austro-Hungarian monarchy Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. It was heavily bombed in 1945, and subsequently seized by the government of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, who proclaimed it as state wealth. Most of the original furnishings were removed, and today only 65 hectares of the surrounding land remain part of the castle's grounds. It is said that Bogdan Dunđerski built the lavish castle and lands to prove to all that he was not bankrupt as had been rumored. He never married but it was known that he had a great fondness for fine women, horses and wine.

Today

The castle lies 12 km from the town of

Bečej Bečej (, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 19,492, while the municipality has 30,681 inhabitants. History Bečej was mentioned f ...

and about 60 km from

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

and today it is used as a tourist destination, where it serves as a hotel with restaurant. Tourists are free to enter and explore the castle's large park and the mausoleum where former owners are buried as well as play on the tennis courts and use the runway for small airplanes. A fully functioning horse stable and farm still exists, it was famed for producing some of the best thoroughbreds in the lands, once numbering 1400. There is also the Church of St George, inside of which is a painting of the Virgin Mary by the artist

Uroš Predić Uroš Predić ( sr-Cyrl, Урош Предић, ; Orlovat, 7 December 1857 – Belgrade, 12 February 1953) was a Serbian Realism (visual arts), Realist painter. Along with Paja Jovanović and Đorđe Krstić, he is considered the most important ...

, however it is said that the face was changed to that of Mara Dinjacki (the blacksmith's wife), whom Dunđerski was in love with. There is also a small ostrich farm to visit and guided tours around the castle and lands are 1 euro per person.

Gallery

Fantast zamak, kapela.jpg, Chapel in complex of Fantast Castle in Bečej

References

External links

Hotel FANTAST - Official sitewww.dvorci.info
Castles in Serbia Manor houses in Serbia Protected Monuments of Culture Bečej 1925 establishments in Serbia Hotels in Serbia {{Serbia-struct-stub

Today

Gallery

See also

References

External links