Banffy Castle from Nușfalău

Bánffy Castle in Nușfalău reflects the grandeur of the Baroque noble residences in Transylvania. Built in the 15th century, the impressive ensemble is a reminiscence of a brilliant age, having been completely independent in the past, just like a village within a village.

One of the local legends says that two centuries ago, on a walk with Albert Bánffy, a friend of his crossed the opposite bank of the Barcău River and, noticing the thick reeds, like a jungle, jokingly asked the baron: "What's here? Brazil?". Today, after 200 years, the villagers have preserved the word, being a living part of their language: in the southern part of Barcău is the village, and in the northern part they say that it is Brazil.

The interior of Bánffy Castle, a real treasure, also hides an interesting past to say the least. Its imposing library housed over 2,000 volumes, including rare titles, and in the piano room Baron Bánffy György is said to have composed his most famous song entitled "Kéknefelejcs".

However, the passage of time has not stayed away from this storied place. Today, the castle proudly preserves traces of its glory days, but the shadows of the past are reflected in every corner.

Brief historical foray

No precise data is known about the time when Bánffy Castle was erected. Moreover, it is not known how the old family property came into the possession of Baron György Bánffy and his wife, Zsuzsanna Wesselényi. It is certain, however, that, based on the late Baroque urn, placed on the gate of the residence and decorated with the main representations of their family coats of arms (the griffin with sword and mermaid), we can assume that they built the Baroque castle, most likely after their marriage in 1764.

More recent history reveals that in 1936 the castle was sold to the Reformed Church by Albert Bánffy. From that moment, it received the role of a house of culture and cinema, being one of the places frequented by the young people of the village. After the Second World War, the castle became a maternity hospital, a doctor's office and a special school for disabled children. Today, its luster is faded by the passage of time, but its walls still manage to speak.

Back in time

Although today the interior of Bánffy Castle tells us nothing of its glorious past, an inventory from 1887 helps us imagine what the residence looked like at that time.

The central representative space of the building's floor was the large living room, flanked by the dining room and the man's living room, more precisely the billiard room. Worth noting here is the existence on the walls of a gallery of portraits of the former owners of the castle and their ancestors, as well as the piano lounge. Although it is not mentioned at all in the aforementioned inventory, local literary-historical sources also mention the existence of a library of about 2,000 volumes, with several rare titles.

The castle courtyard was also impressive, laid out in the form of a park at the end of the 18th century, following the model of English gardens. The arboretum included valuable species of trees from East Asia, which outlined the noble appearance of the residence.