Kemény-Bánffy Castle, Luncani

Summary

A Baroque, L-shaped castle in Luncani (Cluj County) on the Arieș valley, built on the site of the older Gerendi seat and reshaped around 1702 and in the 19th century. Returned to the Bánffy family after 1990, it is now empty, roofless and in very poor condition.

Legal status

Nationalised c.1949; returned to the Bánffy family after 1990; donated by the last Bánffy owner in 2003 to the Bánffy Castle voluntary association ↗

History

The village appears in records as Gerend in 1268, held by the Gerendi family, who lost the estate in the late 16th century. The Jósika family received it, and Boldizsár Kemény bought the castle in 1630. The older Renaissance building was badly damaged by the 1661 Turkish-Tatar raid; an inscription records a restoration in 1702, and hexagonal corner towers were added in 1824. It was ravaged in 1848-49, and after the Luncani Kemény line died out in 1861 the estate passed through the Klebelsberg family to the Zichy and Bánffy families. The Bánffys were evicted in 1949, the castle became an agricultural cooperative seat and many outbuildings were demolished. It was returned to the Bánffy family after 1990; in 2003 the last owner donated it to a voluntary association, and a dispute over its future followed, while the roof and ceilings collapsed in places.

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