The estate called Apari, with its villages and steppes, was given in 1722 to Claudius Florimundus Mercy, a member of the Lorraine principality, for his military merits. It makes Hőgyész the center of this estate of five villages and thirty wastelands, and thus the area begins to develop as Hőgyészi Manor. Before Mercy Castle stood a smaller one-storey castle in the settlement, which is often referred to in contemporary writings as a castle. The castle was built in III. Mercy sold it to György Apponyi in 1772 with royal permission, who was elected chief lord of Tolna county in 1776. The estate was inherited by his son, Antal, and significantly remodeled from 1784. Antal Apponyi was considered one of the most cultivated landlords of the age. He became friends with Haydn, Mozart, became acquainted with Beethoven, and Ferenc Liszt turned to him, albeit for one night only. The building was restored by György Apponyi with Miklós Ybl in 1890, and when he died in 1928, he was buried in the mausoleum of the castle, where he still rests with his wife. The last Apponyi, II. In 1939, Károly Apponyi sold the castle to the National Social Security Directorate. It became an accommodation for Polish refugees during World War II, later a military hospital and home to Greek children who had fled until 1954. Later it operated as a foster home, school, and from 2001 as a castle hotel. It is currently out of order and cannot be visited.