Red Bastion, Ilia (Gabriel Bethlen birthplace)
Bastionul Roșu din Ilia (casa natală Gabriel Bethlen) · Veres-bástya (Marosillye)
sat Ilia; comuna Ilia, Hunedoara · Str. Libertății 69
Listed as open to visitors; closed for a period during the 2020 pandemic; check hours
Summary
The Red Bastion is the surviving residential bastion of the former Ilia fortress on the Mureș, built in 1582 by Farkas Bethlen. Tradition holds it as the birthplace of Prince Gabriel Bethlen; it was restored by 2014 and is open to visitors as a museum-style site.
Legal status
Bought by the Dévai Szent Ferenc Foundation in 2003 ↗
History
Ilia became a border fortress after the Ottomans took Lipova in 1552, and a ring of bastions was built. Farkas Bethlen, who held the estate from Prince Stephen Báthory, built the Red Bastion in 1582, probably as a residence. Gabriel Bethlen was born in the central tower in 1580 according to tradition, though the 19th-century identification of the Red Bastion itself as his birthplace is disputed. In 1670 the Estates ordered the stone walls and three other bastions demolished so the Lipova garrison could not use them. The Kászoni and Bornemisza families later owned the estate and a classicist castle replaced the rest of the site; the bastion received neo-Gothic alterations in the 1850s. A plaque by Nagyenyed students was placed in 1909. The Dévai Szent Ferenc Foundation bought the bastion in 2003 and a restoration with Hungarian state support was completed in 2014.
Transactions & prices
| Date | Type | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Sale | — | Bought by the Dévai Szent Ferenc Foundation (price not given) ↗ |
Sources & links
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