The chapel was primarily used by the ducal family; however, until Eszterháza had its own ministry, the villagers also attended holy mass here. The chapel is located in the castle’s main building. It is accessible from the courtyard, the duke’s apartments and the royal tract. The oval, marble-wainscoted hall is connected to galleries both on the first floor and on the ground floor.The ceiling fresco created by Joseph Ignatz Mildorfer depicts St Stephen offering the country to the Virgin Mary. The stucco frames were designed by Johann Michael Reiff. The original altarpiece, destroyed around 1945, depicted St Anthony of Padua. The current altarpiece immortalises Jesus’s heavenly mission and is the work of Felix Leicher. The sacristy and organ room open from the ground floor, while the ducal oratory and choir are on the first floor. The chapel can be visited during the castle’s opening hours.
The foundations of Süttör’s first 12th-century church were found in 1906 in Jakabsziget at the edge of the village. The area was probably abandoned due to flooding from Lake Fertő. The Baroque church was built in 1732 on the site of the current church. It was demolished in 1889 and a new one was already constructed that year. The building, designed by Viennese Lajos Zatzka, is modelled on northern German Gothic churches. The facade has ridge turrets on each corner and a tall tower jutting out from its middle. The panes above its three doors are decorated with mosaic images (Mary, Jesus and Joseph). The marble plaque next to the Joseph door commemorates the priest and poet Mihály Mentes (1891-1960), who was born in Süttör. He also wrote, for example, the words for the hymn beginning “God, for our fatherland kneel down we in front of You”. The church’s neo-Gothic furnishings were made in 1889. The main altar bears statues of St Andrew and the Holy Kings of the Árpád House. The side altars were erected in honour of Jesus’s Heart and the Blessed Virgin. The organ was made in 1935 at the Rieger factory in Budapest. Many prominent figures, including Pope John Paul II, József Mindszenti and Vilmos Apor (also 20th-century confessors), are depicted in the images on the side walls and the ceiling.
(Eszterháza) For centuries, Eszterháza was a village without its own, independent ministry; worshippers attended Mass in the Esterházy Castle Chapel. The village’s Holy Cross Exaltation Church was consecrated on 2 June 1985. The modern building was designed by István Szabó, Ferenc Bán and László Bihary. Its interior designer was Kristóf Asbóth. The church boasts roomy, bright interior spaces. Its high altarpiece is the “Eszterházi Golgata”, created by painter Erzsébet Udvardi. The Stations of the Way of the Cross pictures on wooden panels are also her work. One of the side altars chronicles the birth of Jesus with the Three Kings paying homage, the other resurrection with the adoration of St Thomas. The church’s organ was built by Péter Takács in 2008. The Holy Family statue in the park in front of the church was created in 1740.