Restoration of an Abandoned Castle in Transylvania | Bánffy (Răscruci, Cluj, Romania)

Welcome to the Banffy Castle in Răscuroce, Valasut. We are here in Romania, Transylvania, between the Cluj-Napoca city and Gerla city. The castle was restored by own funds of Cluj County Council and European funds recently and it's open to visitors since last year. We are here in the main entrance hall of the castle. You will see the original wooden panelling and some masterpieces of the Adam Banffy, made himself, he was the last before owner of the castle. You will see some original tiles here and all the wooden carved and the stoves made by him. I'm gonna propose you to follow me in the dining room of the castle when we can discover some informations about the history of the castle and the family. We are in one of the most beautiful rooms, the dining room of the castle of Răscuroce and I'm gonna show you some original pieces from here. If you look around, you will see the history of the family above the ceiling and you can follow all the history of the family and you can see the original stove made by Adam Banffy. He was a very famous artist. He was interested all in arts and crafts but he was formed in economics. He studied economics but he was more interested in arts and crafts and he was the special man of the family who worked together with his men to redesign his castle. This stove is a special one because it's only one original in the world. It was made by Adam Banffy and he was invited to an exhibition to Szekesfehérvár and his piece of art was praised by Emperor Franz Josef and he donated the first version of this stove to the emperor to please him and after he made the second version and that is what you see now in the castle. We have very much information from the last 100 years lived in the castle by the family. We have three generations of barons of Banffy family, Albert Adam and the son of Adam who was the last owner of the castle. He owned the castle till the Second World War came by and the nationalization of the castle and during the communist era here in this castle functioned a school for special need children. The director of the school, a local woman and a very conscious one, she succeeded to preserve all the furniture left after the Second World War, closing these two main rooms and using another entrance for the children and for their activities. So we can thank her a lot. I want to show you something in the other corner of this very beautiful room. It's a piece of furniture, it's the original one. It speaks about the very close attachment of Adam Banffy to the local people and local community. He worked together with craftsmen from this region and they worked together to realize this piece of art and other pieces of art. We also have here a secret of working together, the two of them. Banffy Adam was working so well together with these young people. János Mezai, he also carved his name in this furniture. I'm going to show you the name of this help of him, János Mezai. They worked together to make this furniture. In a few seconds, I'm going to introduce you to László Túlogdi, the main architect of the restoration of the castle. Before that, I'm going to tell you about some information about nowadays in the castle. It's an example of a good practice in restoration of a castle, because it's not functioning like a museum. It is a multicultural place, which you can rent it for your private events. We have exhibitions on the floor of the castle. We have many cultural events here and we are with wide open doors to any cultural event in the castle. I think the Cluj County Council made a good example in restoration. And now we are going to the terrace of the castle to meet László Túlogdi, the main architect of the restoration. My name is Túlogdi László. I am the architect responsible for the restoration of Banffy Castle in Ráskrús, where records show that a noble residence already stood here in the 18th century. To the best of our knowledge, we know that there was a Baroque castle in this location, which later over the course of time was modified, altered in particular by Baron Banffy Adam, and the building we see today is largely his creation. The Baroque castle is only documented in a single painting, in which the castle is shown from the garden and has a classical symmetrical shape with a mansard roof and a story only in the central body of the building. Inside, however, Baroque elements remain. The enfilade, the characteristic doors and original woodwork still preserved in the building. Of course, the Baroque castle was later transformed by Baron Banffy Adam. He carried out major reconstructions in 1875-1885. As an accomplished craftsman, he and his workshop created the extraordinary interiors that made the Ráskrús castle famous. This is the point where all the main rooms of the castle are aligned along the enfilade. The interiors of this period were divided into two distinct areas, a female wing and a male wing. The ladies' apartments were always placed on the south side of the castle, while the men's quarters were arranged in this part of the building. This very room served as Baron Banffy's office. Here, a Baroque painted ceiling was discovered and carefully restored, an original masterpiece that has survived to this day. We are now in the great hall, the representative space of the building, where we find compositional elements typical of a castle. The fireplace here is purely decorative. It was never used for heating, but only to enhance the composition of the room. The main feature of the hall is the grand staircase of honor. Complemented by a fine ceramic stove that was in fact used for heating. Above, the gallery leads to the upper floor, completing the spatial harmony of this hall. Here, it is important to know that Banffy Adam was a passionate hunter. This passion is still reflected in the castle through several hunting-themed bas-reliefs, which remain in their original position. Among them, we can still see the scenes of the fox and the hare in the woods. Another important feature of this room is the floor, which is original and was created by Banffy Adam. We are now on the main staircase of the building, making our way up to the first floor. The most striking feature of the gallery here is the magnificent ceiling created by Banffy Adam, together with the skylight above the entrance, which floods the space with light. Here as well, three types of wood were used for the details, oak, walnut, and fir, for example in the doors and decorative highlights. The main features of the upper floor in the gallery of honor are the striking atlases and the beautifully carved wooden ceilings. This floor once housed the guest rooms as well as the upstairs parlor. The upstairs parlor was part of the daily life of the castle, a place of gatherings and social moments. From the great parlor, one can step directly onto the terrace, an essential element of the castle's architecture. The terrace is integrated into the main façade, which in fact is the garden façade, opening the building toward nature. And here too, proudly displayed on this façade, we can still see the coat of arms of Banffy Adam and his wife, Veseliniana, reminding us of the noble family who shaped this residence. This is the terrace overlooking the English garden, which was created during the time of Banffy Adam. The garden included all the characteristic features of the style, a lake, a fountain, and a variety of decorative elements. Some of these were lost over time, but thanks to period documents, historical photographs, and old maps, they have been carefully restored, bringing the garden back to its original charm. During the restoration, previously unknown elements of the interior decoration also came to light. Among them are three painted ceilings, one of which has a particularly interesting story. During the time when the castle functioned as a school, this room was divided in two. Part of it burned, and the ceiling was destroyed. When restoration began, we were unsure how to reconstruct the ceiling, so we decided to preserve the original color scheme. In the section where the decoration had to be completely redone, we marked it with a monochrome painting to show what is new and what is original. Above the door, a stone was discovered bearing the date and decorative motifs typical of living rooms of that era, possibly even the year of construction itself. These rooms on the upper floor, especially the guest bedrooms, were considered among the most important spaces of the castle. And in this small room, we discovered a painted ceiling that was previously unknown to us, and it has now been fully restored, and we are truly delighted that it has been brought back to life. The restoration was carried out in 2022 and 2023, financed through European funds obtained by the County Council, which is today the owner of the castle. Our goal throughout was to restore the building as authentically as possible. To achieve this, we worked closely with art historians, restorers and engineers, and it was through this collaboration that the project came to life. Our goal with the restoration was to bring back the image of a noble estate and to preserve as many of the original elements as possible, along with the newly discovered ones. The main compositional axis of the castle is aligned through the center of the building. It begins at the entrance gate, an original Baroque gate made of wrought iron and decorated with two lanterns bearing the Banffy family crest. From here, the axis continues to a rondo, which was part of the residence's original design. Even 20 years ago, traces of this rondo could still be seen on the grounds. The line then carries on through the main entrance, into the great hall and toward the dining room, the most important interior space of the castle. Finally, it extends outward to the terrace, which opens onto the garden and the lake, an integral feature of the English garden composition. Once abandoned and facing an uncertain future, the Banffy Castle in Raskruc has been brought back to life. Today, it shines again in Transylvania, thanks to the commitment of the Cluj County Council and the support of European funds. A powerful example of restoration that can inspire other castles in Romania and across Europe.