The Teleki family has been present in the nearby Jucu de Jos/Alsózsuk since the beginning of the 18th century and the two estates were unified at the beginning of the 20th century by count Teleki Géze (III.), who was an outstanding figure of his age both in terms of the life of fine arts of the time and his role as a patron of art.
After the Trianon treaty, Teleki's fortune was mostly dismantled and an unfortune business venture forced him to sell the estate from Jucu de Sus/Felsőzsuk in 1930. The buyer was baron Kemény Pál from Mănăstireni/Magyargyerőmonostor. He died in 1934 and the estate remained in the hands of his family until 1946, when the estate was nationalised.
The castle's construction was probably commissioned by the knight Bakó Ferenc, from whom it was later bought by Teleki. It was built in an eclectic style, in an L-shaped layout with 16 and 22 meter long wings. The castle's most ornamented part is the main entrance closing the longer wing. Entrance to the castle leads between two squat ornamental pillars on top of which rests an open balcony with metal rails. Behind it are three large-sized double windows that close with a half-circle arc. They contain ornamental elements specific to eclecticism: human forms, ribbons, rosaries, and rustic stripes in the plaster. The rest of the windows close straight, have accentuated window sills and ornamentation. On the northwest side of the castle there is a small arched pentagonal corner turret at the ground floor level.
The castle once had an imposing park, but only traces of it can be seen today. The only remaining curiosity is a one and a half meter tall stone vase. It is beautified with animal and different ornamental shapes, as well as by the coat of arms of the Béldi family, which refers to the wife of Teleki Géza, countess Béldi Margit. After its nationalisation, the castle served as a school, but also served as a kindergarden, house of culture and eve library before that. The building was given back to Lázár Pál, the nephew of Kemény Pál in 2002, who then sold it to a private company. Renovations have since been initiated.
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Kemény-Teleki Castle in Jucu de Sus

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The castle is the result of the reconstruction of the family manor, which was heavily damaged during the 1848-1849 revolution. The reconstruction works, which began before 1859, were commissioned by the estate’s new owner, Baron Bánffy Albert. He later entrusted architect Kerekes Márton with additional reparations in 1870.
Baron Bánffy Ádám (1847-1887), the son of Baron Bánffy Albert and Eszterházy Ágnes, married Wesselényi Mária in that same year, and subsequently moved into the castle from Válaszút/Răscruci. The building’s upper floor and its defining eclectic facade are the most significant modifications from this time, and are attributed to Baron Bánffy Ádám. An old painting, displayed by Kelemen Lajos, shows us what the facade facing the garden looked like before the modifications: it had a ground floor, a mansard roof and a large room in the centre of the upper floor.
In 1885-1886 several rooms were added to the upper floor, as well as the hall and the stately staircase within. The transom windows above the hall were added later. The rooms’ wainscoting and furniture were completely replaced during the construction works, after which the garden facade was completed. The interior and exterior reshaping of the castle lasted until 1887. An architect from Kolozsvár by the name of Horváth Lajos also contributed to these reconstructions. Remaining documents show that the decorative wainscoting and panelling represented the largest portion of the costs (34.227 forint), as opposed to the masonry, for example (28.711 forint). In 1887, Baron Bánffy Albert (1871-1945) took over the castle from his father, Baron Bánffy Ádám. At the beginning of the 20th century, he and his wife, Montbach Sarolta, extended the castle’s park, built a few mansard rooms on the upper floor, as well as a portico at the facade facing the street. The castle has two main facades: the western facade is less decorated and faces the street, while the eastern facade faces the park.
The distribution of the two facades is similar (aa-aa-AAA-aa-aa); the corners of the risalits are accentuated by quoining. The lateral risalits each have two pilaster strips, and are divided into two axes; their ground floor windows have segmental arches, while the windows from the upper floors have jack arches and plaster frames with keystones. The avant-corps is divided into three axes; semi-circular arched windows with keystones, divided by pilasters with composite capitals, open from the upper floor. A richly profiled cornice and a tympanum are situated above the windows. A portico with Tuscan columns is situated in front of the facade facing the street. Beyond the portico, a door decorated with 19th century woodwork leads to the stately stairwell. Two more doorways were opened in the facade during the 20th century; the one that opens from the southern risalit leads to the concrete stairwell which was added later. The neorenaissance-eclectic style facade facing the garden was completed in the 1880’s and is richer in decorative elements. A ground-level terrace is located in the centre. Two wide semi-circular staircases lead to the terrace. Eight Tuscan columns support a balcony with amphora-balusters above the terrace. The top section of the facade is also more ornate than on the other side: the pilasters dividing the windows have more ornate capitals; the string-course stretching above the windows contains flower and ribbon motifs; the tympanum is framed by a cantilevered frieze with egg-and-dart moulding. The tympanum field displays the family crests of Baron Bánffy Ádám and his wife, Wesselényi Mária. The lateral sides of the building are similar: both sides have four windows each, with segmented arches and plaster frames with keystones on the ground floor and jack arches on the top floor. The wide, round-arched entrance to the cellar is located on the northern side of the building.
The castle has three levels (cellar, ground and upper floors), and mansard rooms are located under the roofing as well. The layout of the building is rectangular, with an avant-corps and two corner risalits protruding from the main section. These protruding segments are further accentuated by the mansard roof. A rectangular portico is attached to the avant-corps of the facade facing the street, and an upper balcony supported by columns is attached to the facade facing the garden. We know of the original assignment of rooms from 19th century inventories. Because the foundation walls did not change during Bánffy Ádám’s time, by comparing the inventories and the current layout we can deduce what the layout of the rooms looked like at the beginning of the 19th century. Similarly to the cellar, the two corner risalits each have three rooms within. Three chambers with north-south orientation stretch between the two risalits. A large pillared porch was located in the central part of the building, to the west of these three chambers, along with a few small rooms.
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Bánffy Castle (Răscruci)

Bánffy Castle is an architectural monument situated in Bonţida, a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with construction phases and stylistic features belonging to Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Neogothic styles. It is owned by the Hungarian Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member). The current owner is Katalin Bánffy.
History
In 1387, the Bonțida estate came into the possession of the Hungarian Bánffy of Losonc family, when Sigismund of Luxemburg donated it to Dénes, son of Tamás Losonci. The present castle was preceded by a manor house, whose history dates back to the 15th-16th centuries. After 1640, the estate was inherited by Dénes Bánffy (II) (1638–1674), county governor of Doboka and Kolozs counties, brother-in-law and counselor of Prince Michael I Apafi, who fortified the initial building between 1668 and 1674 by surrounding it with curtain walls that formed a rectangular enclosure, reinforced at the corners with massive circular towers. The castle could be accessed through a seven-storey high gatehouse located on the fortification's eastern side. The works were continued after his death by his successor, György Bánffy (III).
This Renaissance ensemble was involved, between 1704 and 1711, in Rákóczi's War of Independence, needing repairs and restorations at the beginning of the 18th century. Elizabeth the 3rd.
In the 18th century the estate was inherited by Dénes Bánffy (IV), who, after a time spent in the Viennese Court of Empress Maria Theresa, returned home in 1747 and started a reconstruction of the castle in Austrian Baroque style. Between 1747 and 1751 a Cour d'honneur in U shape was built to the eastern side of the Renaissance building, which contained: the riding school, the stable, the carriage rooms and servants' quarters. An important achievement was the castle's park near the Someș (Szamos) River, with walkways, statues and fountains. In the integrative concept specific to Baroque art, the residence and the environment were in a relationship of close interdependence and mutual influence. Based on this concept, the park of 70 ha was set up after the design of architect Johann Christian Erras, which transposed into this space forms dominated by a strict geometry. The sculptor Johann Nachtigall made grandiose stone statues inspired by the ancient poet Ovid.
József Bánffy, the descendant of Dénes Bánffy, decided the demolition of the gate tower in the 1820s, uniting the Renaissance courtyard with the Baroque one, and from the resulting stone a water mill was built for the villagers in Bonțida. In 1850 building's western wing was modified under the direction of architect Anton Kagerbauer (1814–1872), following the park's landscaping after the English Romanticism model.
In 1944, the castle was transformed into a field hospital. German troops plundered and devastated the castle, as retaliation against political attitude of its owner, count Miklós Bánffy, which has initiated negotiations between the governments of Romania and Hungary for the return of weapons against Germany. Thus, the furniture, the library and the gallery of paintings were destroyed.
During the communist regime, whole building was used as a driving school, cooperative farm and hospital for children. In 1963, Bánffy Castle was used as decor for filming Pădurea spânzuraților, directed by Liviu Ciulei. The film comprised a short scene with fire, thus scenographers lit one of the buildings, causing massive damage to the building.
In 1990, the castle was declared a historic monument.
Since 2013 the castle has been the venue for an annual music festival called Electric Castle, held each July.
Restoration
In 1999, due to its ruinous state, the castle was included, at the request of the Transylvania Trust, in the World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Also in 1999, a bilateral State Agreement was signed between Romania and Hungary for the restoration and rehabilitation works. In the following period, with Romanian state funds, about 2/3 of the main building's roof was reconstructed. In 2003, the Transylvania Trust signed with the authorities a long-term lease agreement for the castle, resigned with Katalin Bánffy in 2008 (who was given back the building in the meantime) for the duration of 49 years. In 2001, the Built Heritage Conservation Training Program was implemented, the kitchen buildings being the first one to be restored under its banner.
In 2005, The Built Heritage Conservation Training Centre was officially opened at Bánffy Castle, which functions to this day, teaching traditional building crafts skills for the restoration, repair and maintenance of historic buildings and which was awarded, in 2008, the Europa Nostra prize in Cultural Heritage for education, training and awareness training. The program is supported by Charles, Prince of Wales, who visited the castle. The patron of the training centre is Princess Margareta of Romania.

Bonțida Bánffy Castle

In 1935 count Teleki (VI). Ádám sold the castle to dr. Gyergyay Albert, Professor of Otolaryngology, but the Liberal Party MP, Augustin Prodea, had an eye on the castle and made everything in order to get it. Changing the Agricultural Law, the half of the estate became the property of a rural cooperative, which then sold it to Prodea. In 1938, Gyergyay finally gave up his remaining part and sold it to Prodea. After the change of regime, the model farm, founded by the legendary family of Teleki was bought by Alexandru Biris - local resident.
After the allegedly ill-fated Kenedy family, in 1616 the estate of Luna became the property of the Haller family. Seventy years later, the Hallers have lost their estate as a result of a diplomatic scandal, when Haller János was sentenced to death for insulting the emperor and his father, to save his life, asked for the help of Teleki Mihály. Haller was acquitted and Teleki Mihály received the Luna estate in return for his help. The tenth child of Teleki Mihály, Paul Teleki, who started the construction of the castle, was actively involved in Rákóczi's War of Independence on the Kuruc side and as punishment of his involvement, the imperial army has burned down the newly built castle. As result, the only thing that remained intact was the 35-meter tower. The castle building is considered to be from the XVIIIth century, although the current form of the building shows as it would be much older, being the subject of numerous reconstructions.
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