In the conservation process of Bánffy Castle, Bonțida, saving the buildings has always been a priority. Currently, the carriage house is the only uncovered, ruined part of one of the most impressive courtyards in Transylvania, the castle’s Court D’Honneur, being threatened by imminent collapse if no intervention is carried out. Thanks to the support of the Bethlen Gábor Fund from Hungary, in June 2023, we started the safeguarding process of the former carriage house. The first step is to secure the building structure, followed by architectural restoration and, finally, the set-up of an educational workshop.

Project background
Transylvania Trust has been providing training in traditional building crafts at Bánffy Castle, Bonțida, since 2001. University students and skilled workers learn the methodology of historic building conservation, archaeologists and art historians take part in practical training, and we also provide training in stone carving, carpentry, vault restoration, traditional joinery, etc. To date, our training programmes have had around 3000 participants from 32 countries worldwide. In 2008, the Foundation was awarded the Europa Nostra prize for training through conservation and conservation through training, a principle promoted by the Foundation in its educational programmes. Thanks to the teaching of traditional building crafts, essential for built heritage conservation, the former kitchen building was renovated completely, currently housing the accommodation, kitchen and dining hall of the educational centre in the castle, as well as the cultural café. We have also managed to renovate around 60% of the Miklós building, which houses the conference room of the educational centre and teachers’ accommodation. We were also able to cover the main building and, also thanks to a grant from the Bethlen Gábor Fund, we have finished the structural reinforcement and securing of the main building and started the complete renovation of the western wing. As a result, after 70 years, the main building finally has windows, and we have also created, in the western wing, an exhibition titled Miklós Bánffy’s Force Fileds dedicated to the life and work of Count Miklós Bánffy.

Project objectives
Following the conservation of the carriage house, a training workshop for cabinetmakers, traditional carpenters and joiners, as well as furniture restorers will be created. So far, the workshop has partially functioned in the stables wing but, as originally planned, its final location will be the restored carriage house. The workshop’s target groups are the students of the educational programmes run by the Kallós Zoltán Foundation in the neighbouring Răscruci and by the Téka Cultural Foundation in Gherla, the students of the vocational training provided by the Reformed College in Cluj and Hungarian university students from the Carpathian Basin. The demand for these crafts in the Transylvanian labour market is high, and there is currently no training in these fields. As a result, the training provided will not only improve the skills of professionals but also significantly improve the quality of historic building conservation in Transylvania.

Sponsor: Bethlen Gábor Fund, Hungary