The Eclectic Manor House of the Piller family – Ličartovce
Ličartovce is one of the oldest Slovak municipalities. Its existence dates back to 9th -11th centuries. The dominant feature of the municipality is the manor house build on the remnants of the old building built by local landowners. It was rebuilt in a Baroque-Classicist style – a relief of a double arch stating the year 1736. According to the documents of the Austria-Hungary Chamber, the manor house was built on a hill with two two-storey towers facing north with a room on each floor. In the east-facing tower, the first-floor room had a simple clay fireplace, the windows had wooden frames filled with glass. In the western part there was a fourth tower, whose upper roof along the vault of the upper floor were damaged. There was also a medium-sized fireplace and three windows that were fitted with a metal lattice from the outside. The fifth tower faced the west.
Other masonry two-storey buildings were probably connected to the manor house – a chapel, a kitchen, a miller’s house and stables for horses. In the vicinity of the manor house was a large fenced orchard with a plum dryer in the middle. There were 50 beehives at the back of the manor house estate. A craftsman who worked with wood used to live on the estate, and there were also wooden farm buildings. In the 18th century, the property was confiscated by Francis II. Rakoczi. Later on, the estate became the property of Juliana Medňanská, widow of General de Renand.
There is a natural English landscape garden with historic greenery dating from the first half of the 19th century next to the manor house. The garden features an unusual sculpture of Vesna. It is a rare work of art, a neoclassical Art Nouveau sculpture from Zurich. During the WWII in 1944, the manor house housed the German General Staff. Immediately after the end of the war, the parcels of the large estate were divided into smaller parcels. The last owner of the estate was Dr. Dezider Piller. The forest and manor house were later taken over by the state, the arable land with an area of 240 ha was given to small farmers.
The manor house was then repaired and a sanatorium and later a hospital were set up in it. In 1954, it was used as a psychiatric ward for men, later for women. In the seventies, the capacity of the manor proved insufficient, so a new pavilion was built in two years. Later, however, the hospital was moved to new premises in Prešov.
Today, the manor house is abandoned, the interior is in poor condition. The surrounding park was partially destroyed by the construction of a new privately-owner social services home in the immediate vicinity of the estate.
