Discover Felsőpetény

• The evangelical church in Felsőpetény dates from 1784.
• The former Almásy-kastély stands outside the town limits and was built in 1902.
• A Mindszenty memorial day is held at the castle every October.
• A 2026 report describes guided tours in the former Mesélő Föld clay mine.

The church and the former Almásy-kastély are two distinct landmarks in the town’s history. The evangelical church was built in 1784. The castle was built in 1902 and is located outside the town limits of Felsőpetény. It formerly housed a children’s home.

A plaque on the wall of Almásy-kastély commemorates Mindszenty József, Cardinal and Archbishop of Esztergom, who was held under house arrest there. The castle thus connects its architectural history with a specific act of historical remembrance. The church, in turn, is both a building with its own early date and a place that played a role in a described Mindszenty memorial service.

The annual Mindszenty memorial day at Almásy-kastély takes place in October. A ceremony on 27 October 2013 began with a bishop’s mass at Munkás Szent József-templom. The participants then walked to the castle. After speeches, they laid wreaths at the memorial plaques for Mindszenty József and Pálinkás-Pallavicini Antal.

This example shows how one specific historical ceremony unfolded; it does not establish the program for future events. If you would like to plan your trip around the memorial day, check the dates for the relevant year.

A 2026 report describes guided tours through the tunnels of the former Mesélő Föld clay mine in Felsőpetény, which have been preserved in their original condition. Remnants of the mining operation include mine carts and machinery. During the tour described, the headlamps are switched off and the walls are illuminated exclusively with ultraviolet light.

The tour therefore focuses both on the preserved traces of work in the tunnels and on the unusual lighting. Before your trip, check whether and when guided tours are available.

In the broader destination of Neuburg, the old village of Hollókő is a cultural and historical attraction in its own right: it is a Palóc settlement in Nógrád County in northern Hungary and a deliberately preserved, living example of rural life before the 20th-century Agrarian Revolution.

The Pásztó Museum offers another perspective on history. Its permanent and changing exhibitions are housed in a Baroque Cistercian monastery building rebuilt in 1717–1718. The museum also presents a medieval glassworks and blacksmith’s workshop as an open-air exhibition and as an industrial heritage monument unique in Hungary. This sets Felsőpetény’s memorial sites and mining history apart from other cultural attractions in the broader destination of Neuburg.

Discover more destinations: Ősagárd, Horpács, Kétbodony, Legend, Diósjenő, Szendehely, Berkenye, Kisecset.

When is the Mindszenty memorial day?

The memorial day at Almásy-kastély takes place every October. Check the dates for the relevant year when planning your trip.

What is there to see in the former Mesélő Föld clay mine?

The preserved tunnels feature mine carts, machinery and traces of mining. During the tour described, the walls are illuminated exclusively with ultraviolet light.

Where is Almásy-kastély?

The former castle stands outside the town limits of Felsőpetény and was built in 1902.

To the broader travel overview: Rétsági.