Location: Bonţida, Cluj County Map
Original owner: Katalin Banffy
Constructed: 1437- 1890
Destroyed: by the Germans during WWII
Bánffy Castle from Bonțida (in Hungarian Bonchidai Bánffy-kastély), which was known as the Versailles of Transylvania, is an architectural complex built by the Bánffy family in Bonțida commune, Cluj county. The core of the edifice complex is Renaissance, further extensions and modifications were made in the 18th century in the Baroque style, and in the 19th century in the Neoclassical and Romantic styles (the Neo-Gothic gallery from 1855).
The castle in its better days (1935)
The Bonțida domain came into the possession of the Bánffy de Losonc
family in 1387, when King Sigismund of Luxembourg donated it to
Dionisie, the son of Toma Losonci. Before the construction of the
current complex, there was a noble residence (mansion) built in the
XV-XVI centuries on this site, this building being documented after
1640.
Dionisie Bánffy II (1638-1674), Comite of Dăbâca and Cluj,
brother-in-law and adviser of the Prince of Transylvania Mihai Apafi I,
was the one who initiated the construction of the current ensemble,
between 1668-1674. The original L-shaped mansion was fortified with
rectangular enclosure walls, circular towers at the 4 corners and a tall
gate tower at the entrance. After the beheading of Dionysius, the works
were continued by his heir, the future governor George III. The
Renaissance ensemble is known from an inventory drawn up in 1736, which
describes the buildings before the Baroque modifications.
Between
1704 and 1711, the Renaissance castle was damaged in the war of
independence led by Francis Rákóczi II, requiring reconstruction and
repairs in several places.
In 1735 the domain was inherited by
Dionisie Bánffy IV, who was 12 years old at the time. After some time
spent at the Court of Vienna, he returned to Transylvania in 1747 as
Grand Commissar of Empress Maria Theresa, after which he initiated the
reconstruction of the castle in Baroque style between 1747-1751. In the
first phase, the court of honor in front of the gate building was built,
taking inspiration from Viennese baroque architecture. The court of
honor with a "U"-shaped plan consisted of: the stable, the stable, the
draw and the servants' quarters. The gallery of statues that decorated
this body of the ensemble was made by the sculptor Johann Nachtigall,
who translated Ovid's "Metamorphoses" into grandiose stone statues.
Dionisie was also the one who initiated the modification of the current
main building. During this period, the park that surrounded the castle
(designed by Johann Christian Erass) was also created, in the spirit of
the French Baroque, characterized by clear, geometric, strict forms,
with alleys, a lake, statues and artesian fountains.
The north
wing of the residence (the main building) was finished by Dionysius'
son, George V, attested by an inscription above the balcony of the
entrance from the courtyard, where the year 1784 appears.
The
next Bánffy descendant, József Bánffy, will demolish the gate tower in
1820, and from the resulting material a water mill will be built, made
available to the villagers. Through these changes, the current
appearance of the Miklós building was achieved, and the western and
eastern palace buildings of the complex received a re-facade in the
neoclassical style. Also at the disposal of József Bánffy, in 1855 the
architect Anton Kagerbauer modified the western facade of the complex
(the main building and the kitchen building being affected) in a
romantic, neo-Gothic style, in accordance with the remodeled park at the
disposal of the same owner, by redefining the sober baroque forms with
other more free, romantic, specifically English.
In 1858 József
Bánffy sold the castle to Baron Miklós Bánffy, Comte of Alba de Jos
County, grandfather of the writer and politician Miklós Bánffy, the last
owner of the castle before nationalization. In 1935-1937 he restored the
western facade and the north-western tower.
During World War II,
the castle was used as a military hospital. In 1944, the building was
seriously damaged, when the retreating German troops attacked, looted
and set fire to the entire complex. All the furniture, the well-known
portrait gallery and the library were destroyed. Count Nicolae (Miklós)
Bánffy, the owner of the castle at that time, had initiated a
negotiation between Hungary and Romania for both countries to switch
sides and turn their weapons against Germany, the destruction of the
castle is supposed to be an act of revenge by the German government
against the baron .
The Communist period
In a still functional
side of the castle, the Bonțida Agricultural Production Cooperative
("C.A.P.") was installed in the 1950s. The nationalization and the lack
of any maintenance of the buildings and the park led to the serious
deterioration of the castle. The villagers used the castle bricks as
building material. The Cluj-Napoca Art Museum managed to save the
statues from the former baroque park, storing them within the
institution (donations section, I. C. Brătianu str.), where they can
still be found today.
During the 60s, the Directorate of
Historical Monuments tried to rehabilitate the castle, but due to lack
of funds, it could not carry out any concrete action in this regard. The
castle was further used as a warehouse for building materials, and the
park gradually turned into pasture, the trees becoming firewood. In
1963, the castle was used as a set in the making of the film The Hanged
Man's Forest, directed by Liviu Ciulei. The film included a brief scene
with a fire, for which the set designers set fire to one of the
buildings, causing massive damage.
The post-communist period
After the fall of the communist regime, due to its state of disrepair,
in 1999 World Monuments Watch included the castle on the List of the 100
Most Endangered Sites in the World, at the proposal of the Transilvania
Trust Foundation. The start of the rehabilitation works was possible
thanks to the agreement signed in 1999 by the Ministry of Culture and
the Ministry of Cultural Heritage of Hungary. The Ministry of Culture
also supported the partial rehabilitation of the framework of the main
building. In 2001, the Specialization Program in the Rehabilitation of
the Built Heritage begins under the auspices of the Foundation, within
which the kitchen building is restored, the foundation ensures the
security and administration of the building, as well as the attraction
of funds for the restoration, and in 2005 the Center for Specialization
in the Rehabilitation of the Built Heritage is inaugurated, which
operates in the Miklós building. For the activity carried out at the
castle, in 2008 the Center was awarded the Europa Nostra Grand Prize of
the European Union.
In 2007, Princess Margareta of Romania
assumed the role of Spiritual Patron of the Center for Specialization in
Heritage Rehabilitation built in Bonțida.
In 2008, Countess
Bánffy Katalin, daughter of Bánffy Miklós, the current owner of the
castle, who lives in Morocco, concluded a 49-year concession contract
with the Transylvania Trust Foundation, according to which the
Foundation will rehabilitate the castle and establish a cultural and
specialization.