The ornate, three-storey castle with three corner towers is guarded by two sphinxes in a park of centuries-old trees. According to the chronicles, Grand Prince Géza bestowed the Szigetköz on a German knight called Héder at the end of the 10th century. The castle of Héder became the centre of the demesne, which united the serf villages in the area. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Héderváry family built a renaissance castle next to the austere, Gothic medieval castle, which had grown uncomfortable to live in. The palace was remodelled in the 18th century, gaining Baroque ornaments and another storey. The ornately painted chapel, which spans two floors, was added to the west wing at this time. The chapel is decorated with a painting depicting Mary and the Infant Jesus.
The octagonal roadside Peregrine Chapel was erected in 1709 at the behest of Jób Viczay’s wife, Eszter Ebergényi in honour of the patron saint of wanderers and those suffering from foot ailments. Local legend tells a different story about the chapel: that a peeress came to Hédervár on foot from France and she was so worn out by the journey that she collapsed on reaching the market town, where the chapel stands. She was taken to the castle to be cared for. In her fever, St Peregrine appeared before her and healed her. In gratitude, she had a chapel built in honour of the saint and adorned with a painting of her saviour as she had seen him in her dream. (Many hospitals around the world are named after the Servite monk, St Peregrine, the intercessor for those with gout, foot ailments and cancer, who lived at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries.)
Records show that there was already a chapel here in the first half of the 13th century. The predecessor of today’s building was probably erected in 1397. The recesses on the church’s facade contain stone statues of St Florian and St Wendel in Swiss costume. The wrought-iron cross next to the church formerly stood in the old cemetery and, according to tradition, dates back to the 14th century. The sanctuary wall is adorned with a 19th-century image of Christ. The rich altar structure boasts a picture of St Michael fighting Evil between gilded statues of St Stephen and St Ladislaus. The wooden statues of the St John of Nepomuk altar represent the symbols of Faith, Love and Hope. On the other side altar, there is a copy of the Tearful Mary picture in Győr Cathedral. The octagonal, Gothic baptismal fountain is made of red marble and decorated with Hungary’s national coat-of-arms and the Héderváry coat-of-arms. According to art historians, the inscription “Anno Domini 1031’ does not refer to its year of production. The sanctuary wall is decorated with a memorial to the victims of the First and Second World Wars.
The village’s ornament, a county value, is listed in the Győr-Moson-Sopron County Value Depository. Records show that it was built between 1296 and 1303. The single-naved building was once the parish church, a shrine to Mary and the funeral chapel of the Héderváry family at the same time. A new crypt and a Loreto chapel with built onto its north side in the second half of the 17th century. It was then rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the 19th century. The sanctuary’s eastern wall has a, presumably original, Romanesque window. Five red marble tombstones can be seen on the sanctuary wall. The ornate urn in the Loreto chapel contains the heart of the first Károly Khuen-Háederváry. There is also an urn surrounded by carved snakes on a stylised Corinthian column. Next to it are three large silver urns in a recess covered with a coat-of-arms. There is a wooden screen reminiscent of Greek Orthodox churches behind the chapel’s altar and above its ledge, there are imperial, royal and family coats-of-arms surrounded by Baroque decorations. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary carved from ebony behind the screen in a statue recess. The Chapel Gallery also hosts temporary exhibitions.