Wednesday 27 May 2015

Transylvanian Castles - 1. part

Zau de Câmpie

As you know I live in Transylvania. This beautiful and unique part of Romania is full of old buildings, castles, palaces and fortresses, some of them part of our history, others having interesting stories. 
I have a plan for this summer: to visit as many castles as I can and write a mini serial about them here on my blog. 
Lets start with the castle form Zau de Câmpie.

Zau de Campie Castle of Baron Istvan Ugron

The village of Zau de Câmpie (romanian), Mezőzáh (hungarian), Sannendorf (german) is situated in the middle of the Transylvanian Plateu in Mures County and it is documented as of 25 May 1339. We visited it last week and we had a wonderful Sunday seeing the castle and the Wild Peony Reservation, the other sight of the village. 
The castle was built between 1909 and 1911 and it was the summer residence of Baron István Ugron. The castle is a real architectural calendar, having 365 windows as the days of the year, 52 rooms as the weeks of the year, 12 hallways as the months and 4 towers as the seasons. The building is surrounded by a dendrological park with many rare plants and trees. 

Zau de Campie Castle of Baron Istvan Ugron
The castle has a very romantic but sad story...
The Baron has spent years in Russia being the ambassador of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and he fell in love with one of the daughters of  Tsar Nikolai II. István Ugron asked the Princess to marry him and he built the castle as a gift for the young lady. But she asked that the whole road between the railway and the palace to be covered with gold coins. Once work started, the Princess asked the him to put gold coins so that no one can step on the Emperors head. Even if the Baron was very rich and owned huge properties, he wasn't able to satisfy her wishes. 
Unfortunately time has solved this unfulfilled love, but the Baron's heart has crushed. In 1918 the entire family of the Tsar was killed by the bolsheviks, including the Princess to. After this he retired completely from public and he came to the castle just for short visits.
After World War II the castle, the furniture and the whole property of the Baron was took by the communists. István Ugron died lonely in a poorhouse. :(
In the communist era the building received more destination from 1963 was an orphanage. These days the heirs claim the domain, the surrounding forest being already returned!

Zau de Campie Wild Peony Reservation
There is another beautiful place located a few kilometers from the village: The Wild Peony Reservation. It is considered to be the only place within the Carpathian arc where this flower grows. The peony has 10 to 30 centimeters in height, grows in clumps and has crimson red flowers. It is protected by law and it's unique in Europe. The first data about the Zau de Câmpie peonies were published in Vienna in 1846. The reservation has 270 species, subspecies and a variety of very rare plants, most of them protected by law. 




Zau de Campie Wild Peony Reservation
Unfortunately we visited the reservation too late this year and most of the flowers were already faded. So if you want to see this "fairyland" come to Transylvania in the first days of May! :)

There are beautiful forests to!




4 comments:

  1. Romania is such a beautiful country, specially Transylvania. It's so sad that the communists tried to damage your history and your memories...
    I hope once I can visit this beautiful place!

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    1. Thank you very much for your comment!!! I totally agree with you!!! Hope someday you can visit our beautiful country!!!

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  2. Now I see you live in Transylvania! What a beautiful story! and sad...
    Love Silvia

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    1. Thank you Silvia, yes it's a very sad story, but in Transylvania all the castles have similar stories...

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