Use ‘English Patient’ Castle for Less Than a Penny

The mayor of the southeast Hungarian city of Gyula (200 km southeast of Budapest) is offering an historic castle in the center of town for the price of one Hungarian forint (or 0.056 USD).

Klara Perjesi told the Bekes Hirlap newspaper that she is hoping an investor can be found for the Almasy Castle which is situated in an enclosed tourist complex adjacent to a popular Hungarian spa.

The name Almasy will be familiar to fans of the film “The English Patient” in which Ralph Fiennes starred as Count Laszlo Almasy. The film was based on a 1992 novel of the same name by Michael Ondaatje.

The castle has been left unused and relatively untended for the past decade and is a burden on the city in its current state, according to the mayor.

However — and it is a fairly big however — the city will only allow the use of the castle under the condition that the prospective investor handle the costs of renovation. (The cost of renovation is estimated to be several million dollars)

The mayor said that the city is hopeful an investor will come along and renovate the property — which she maintains is an attractive investment due to its potential as a tourist destination.

The castle was originally built in 1725 and then reconstructed after it burnt down in 1801.