Once in Cetatea de Baltă, Alba County, on the banks of Târnava Mică and discovering Bethlen-Haller Castle that seems to guard the entire horizon, we cannot fail to notice the new life that it has
Once in Cetatea de Baltă, Alba County, on the banks of Târnava Mică and discovering Bethlen-Haller Castle that seems to guard the entire horizon, we cannot fail to notice the new life that it has. Our hearts are filled with gratitude, noticing that we can easily get lost in a landscape similar to France or Italy. The beautiful reborn Bethlen-Haller Castle, its details, the order and the surrounding air.
We are guided with good energy, smiles and a lot of passion by Bogdana. As we love the places that breathe through their people, we understand from the beginning that we will be very happy to return.
The journey at Bethlen-Haller Castle begins with a tour. It has a troubled history, unknown sometimes. Similar to the styles in which it was built (Renaissance, Baroque, avant-garde and extravagant) so are its days, owners, stories. Typically Renaissance built, the four-tower Bethlen-Haller Castle was built between 1615-1624 by Miklos Bethlen, Chancellor of Transylvania. However, it has undergone numerous transformations over time. Between 1769-1773 it was renovated in Baroque style. It was bought from the Tax Office, sold, bet and lost at card game, passing from the possession of Bethlen family to Haller family. It was like this starting with the second half of the 19th century, until the year of expropriation, 1948.
During the communist period, Bethlen-Haller Castle became vinification section, while the original furniture, decorations and collectibles disappeared or were destroyed. After 1989, it was claimed and returned to Haller family, then bought by Necşulescu family, who restored it. It became after a symbol of Jidvei and in 2020 the family opened it completely for the public.
We are grateful for the generous tour, for the small imperfections we observe, which make Bethlen-Haller Castle more beautiful. In one of the towers there is an old wooden staircase. Hanging on the walls surrounding the staircase we see old clocks, one for each birthday celebration of the owner. Also it is said that at the base of the stairs, the old door would have been the passage to a secret tunnel that connected the two castles of the Bethlen family. It is this one and the one in Sânmiclăuș.
We also find out that the current objects and paintings inside Bethlen-Haller Castle have been collected over time from various collections. Some of the rooms have been painted by students from the University of Arts. However, one of the painted walls has only an outline, without a completed model, a symbol of the beauty of imperfection, the specificity of this place. We stop next to an old piano, the only object left in the castle from the period when it became a warehouse. Made in Vienna, today it looks tired, completely out of tune, but with a symbolic beauty, that only a trial can offer as gift. We can feel the emotion while touching it.
Bethlen-Haller Castle is, therefore, a story. It needs to be discovered in peace, understood, valued. It has many corners, windows, details that are worth sniffing in a personal rhythm. We arrive to our room, one of the four currently available and renovated. Time travel, tall windows under which a beautiful field and sunset appear, perfect furniture, white bedding, painted walls and an elegant bathtub, romantically surrounded by a transparent curtain. For a moment you are there, back in time.
On the first day we better understood the history and current story of Jidvei wineries. We were glad to find out so many new things. Jidvei has 2500 ha of vineyard, the largest single-owner area in Europe, processing over 25 million kg of grapes annually. At the same time, it inaugurated the first gravitational winery in Europe and today it produces 54 different labels. Jidvei has four wineries, in Jidvei, Tăuni, Blaj and Bălcaciu. The storage capacity is over 35 million liters. Jidvei winery, built in 1974, has the largest storage capacity, with a modern fermentation technology, fully automated. Blaj, founded in 1989, hosts the oldest wines. Bălcaciu (1958) has the sparkling wines and wine distillates. Established in 2014, Tăuni is unique, thanks to fermentation and storage tanks, equipment and facilities, modern technologies. It uses gravitational energy, for minimal intervention in the winemaking process.
https://romanian-romance.com/
Free
25.00 RON
0 - 12 years: free
WC
castel@jidvei.ro
- Wine tasting
- Closed on Mondays
- Vineyards and winery: 25.00 RON
- Guided tours are offered