Banloc Castle
Photo credit: (c) Constantin DUMA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Each castle is shrouded in a double aura: one of the past lavish lifestyle of the counts and countesses, barons and baronesses who paraded their exquisite gowns at glittering balls entertained by stylish music, the other of a curse that cut off all the glamour and drove the buildings into dereliction, leaving them hidden from curious eyes under wild ivy curtains.

The Ariergarda Timisoara Association (AAT) has made its mission of placing these sightseeing jewels on a map of tourist attractions. AAT representatives walked the region of Banat to identify these once beautiful buildings, check on their condition, find out who their current owners are and inquire into the real prospects of recommending them as holiday destinations.

Also, the local municipal and county governments are considering revamping these objectives to create tourist trails in anticipation of Timisoara becoming European Capital of Culture in 2021, offering the guests the opportunity to spend some memorable days in Banat.

“A very little known site is the former Castle of the Periam Hatter, which was turned into hat factory. In 1865, Johann Wohl was the first to produce handmade hats in Periam; his successor in the business was Johann Rudach, who set the bases of a hat factory here. In 1890, the Periam Hall and the local Craftsmen’s Guild decided the site of the future hat factory having Ioan Korber as main shareholder. The factory was effectively set up in 1892, under the name of Korber — Hat and Felt Cloche Factory, employing in the beginning 250 workers. Until the ’50s, the Periam-based factory had important business partners in Europe, but in 1948 it was nationalized and the building went into state property. After 1990, the Hatter’s Castle was claimed by an Alba Iulia citizen,” Timis County Council president Titu Bojin told AGERPRES.

In Foeni, the castle displaying a robust architectural line with a triangular frontispiece supported by six columns, was spoiled by the local administration that fitted it with energy-efficient windows and had it accommodate the cultural community center. The Foeni castle is actually a historic monument — home of the Mocioni family. Built in 1812, it was an impressive residence in that time. During the 1848 Revolution the Hungarian troops devastated the Foeni estate, which was then seized in May 1849. Jurist and politician Andrei Mocioni, son of Ioan Mocioni, bought the estate back into the family. In 1869 Andrei Mocioni retired from politics, spending his last years here with his wife, Laura Cernovici, and his father-in-law, Baron Peter Cernovici. In 1880, the Foeni estate was bequeathed to his wife and other survivors; in recent times, that is after the ’90s, a direct descendant of Mocioni’s — Antoniu, bought back the castle and arranged the Culture Centre here.

The Carani mansion became the property of a wealthy businessman, who just left it to degrade.

The Banloc Castle seemed to have a somewhat better fate: its last owner was Princess Elisabeth, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. In 2008 the Town Hall leased it out for free to the Timisoara Archdiocese for a 49-year period, for an ecumenical center to open here. The mansion was built in 1750 on a site that was first mentioned in documents on May 13, 1400 under the name Byallak — “the buffalo’s plot.” In the time Banat was a Turkish pashalik, between 1522-1717, the Pasha had his summer residence here; later on, the land was donated by Empress Maria Theresa to Croatian Count and governor Josip Draskovic in exchange for other territories. The mansion was built in 1750 and in 1783 it became property of the Hungarian noble family Karacsonyi. Also in that time Count Lazar Karacsonyi brought rare species of exotic trees that he planted around the castle, creating the current park which covers an area of ten hectares.

Princess Elisabeth, who became a queen through her marriage to George II of Greece, later divorced and returned to the country. In 1935 she bought the Banloc estate and settled here until 1948, when she was forced into definitive exile. During communism, the mansion was successively a retirement home and an orphanage, and most of the customized pieces of furniture were stolen.

The Nako Castle in Sannicolau Mare belonged in the eighteenth century to the Nako family and had the chance to be kept intact. Brothers Kristof and Czyril Nako bought the estate at auction in 1781. Count Nako Kalman had the castle built in 1864; it was not only an architectural monument, featuring a tower of medieval inspiration, but also a veritable museum where objects of inestimable value from the personal collection of the Nako family were displayed. Paintings by Count Nako Kalman’s wife Berta, who was quite famous in that time, were exposed in the stately parlour, but also paintings from 1840-1850 by masters Franz von Lenbach and Schrottsberg, as well as carved and inlaid furniture from the Netherlands, a Carducci statuette from Venice and other such artworks. In the hunting room trophies captured by the nobleman in his first expedition to Africa were displayed.

The guest room was adorned with silver art objects, an old German gem, bronze sculptures and inlaid cabinets, paintings from the 15th century. The dining room was decorated with a collection of antique Japanese porcelain, as well as several copies of Rembrandt and Titian, which complemented the museum values. After 1919, all these treasures were lost without a trace. After WWI, the Nako family moved to Hungary, and the vast property surrounded by a huge fir forest and the 1,500 yokes of land with farms, gardens, greenhouses, winter gardens and orchards were sold. The castle was divided into two, the forest was devastated, and the furniture was scattered piece by piece.

At the beginning of the past century, the castle served as Romania’s first agriculture school and during the WWII it served as headquarters of the fascist guard, barracks and armory. The school of tractor drivers operated here between 1949 — 1951 and 1953 — 1955, then again the agriculture school, and in 1975 the castle was taken over by the Sannicolau Mare Town Hall, that organized here the Bela Bartok Museum, which opened in 1981. The castle currently accommodates the Town Culture Office and Museum.

In the 19th century, the San Marco mansion in Comlosu Mare was the center of the theatrical shows organized in the region, as well as a venue for the meetings of the aristocracy. After the nationalization, it was transformed into offices of the Cooperatist Agricultural Farm, then in a school and kindergarten. Its history too is linked to brothers Kristof and Czyril Nako who followed the Magyarization policy and bought in 1781 huge areas of land in Banat. The landed property managed jointly by the Nako brothers included estates in Sannicolau Mare, Teremia Mare and Comlosu Mare. Three years later, they were ennobled to landed gentry of Sannicolau Mare. In 1801 they decided to divide their common wealth and by lots casting, the Sannicolau Mare estate was left to the offspring of Kristof, while Teremia — Comlos, to Czyril’s son, Joseph. The latter left it to his son, Ioan, who in 1840 moved his residence from Vienna to the new castle built at the heart of Comlos. Around the building he arranged a luxurious park covering ten hectares, with wrought iron gates made in Vienna. The family crest was above the main gate, but it was destroyed by communists.

The Rudna mansion, property of baron Nikolics, is now fallen into ruins; in 1919, when the baron left Romania and settled permanently in Paris, the mansion was purchased by the renowned lawyer Lighezan, but after his death the manor slipped into ruin. In 1946 it was transformed into an officers mess, then in 1950 into barracks for the border subunit, and in the ’60s in a Cooperatist Agricultural Farm office. The chapel on the estate was destroyed in the same period. After the Revolution, what was left of the former mansion was stolen piece by piece beginning with the doors and the windows, the hardwood flooring and ending with the once luxurious furniture.

Another mansion that could become a tourist attraction is the one sitting at Clopodia, owned by former General Vintila Petala. A former Minister of the Armed Forces on behalf of the Liberals, General Petala bought at the end of the 19th century the mansion, which features a spectacular loggia enframed by two towers, from Hungarian Prime Minister Sándor Wekerle. After 1951, the General and his family fled the country. For a period the building was left in desolation and in the ’90s it was returned to the General’s great-granddaughter Marie-Rose Mociornita, who then sold it to the Erina family.AGERPRES