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Hotel Beyfin Cluj-Napoca, Romania Hotel Beyfin Cluj-Napoca, Romania

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Surroundings Bontida Banfyy Castle
 

Bontida Banfyy Castle

The Bontida Banffy Castle, an architectonic assembly built by the family with the same name is situated at 25 km north-east from Cluj-Napoca city.


The construction of the castle began in 1473 when the baron Banffy received the permission of King Albert to build a fortress, and was finished in 1543. The first documentary attestation of the castle dates back from the 17th century, when, according to a military report (1680), there was a system of fortifications that surrounded the mansion. The most visible styles from the assembly are the Renaissance and the Baroque.


In 1944 the German troops evicted the owners in order to use the castle as a military hospital. The building was seriously damaged at the end of the Second World War, when the German retreating troops attacked, robbed and set on fire the entire building. The furniture, the picture gallery, the well-known portraits gallery and the library were entirely destroyed.


The nationalization and the lack of buildings and park maintenance led to a severe degradation of the castle. The Art Museum from Cluj-Napoca succeeded in saving the statues from the park that used to be Baroque and deposited them in the institution.


The restoration works were made under the patronage of the Prince Charles of Wales who visited the construction site several times.