Angel Wings

History of the Calvary Chapel European College and Conference Center ~

The conference center (a restored castle, see pictures in “my gallery”) is also the site of Calvary Chapel’s European Bible College located in Vajta, Hungary, a village of about 720 people and is located near the middle of Hungary, approx. a two hour drive to Budapest. The castle, known as Zichy Kastely (pronounced Koshtay) was a former residence of the aristocratic Zichy family.  In the early 1900’s the Zichy’s represented one of the five richest families in all of Hungary, owning more than thirty private residences.  Zichy-Kastely at Vajta was completed in 1923 but only occupied two months out of every year as the family traveled around to oversee their various estates which included over 1,400 acres surrounding the town. 

After WWII the communist took over the facility as the Zichy’s fled to Sweden.  For the next few years the communist leaders and their families used it as a vacation home.  After the Revolution in 1956, Zichy Kastely was converted into camp for disabled children. 

When the iron curtain collapsed in 1989 a new government took control of Hungary.  By 1994 the facility had been abandoned as there were no funds available to maintain it and it fell into a sad state of disrepair.

CalvaryChapel purchased it in 2000 to establish a bible college that would be accessible to Eastern Europeans.  ~