Kemény Castle

The Kemény Castle in Brâncoveneşti, situated in the foreground of the Călimani Mountains, on the right bank of the Mureş river, is a characteristic vestige of Transylvanian Renaissance architecture. The old fortess from Brâncoveneşti stood not in its actual place, but in the orchard nearby. The first written mention of Vécs dates back to almost eight hundred years. In 1228 Andrew II Hungarian king confiscated the estates from Simon Kacsics, accomplice in his wife queen Gertrudis’s murder, and according to the letter of patent, conferred the fortress of Vécs /Vecheu/ to the Master of the Treasury, later Palatine Dénes from the Tomaj genus, of Pecheneg origin. The members of the Losonczi de Losoncz inherited it from them, then in the period 1319‒1467 it was owned by the Bánffy de Losoncz family, also from the Tomaj genus. From the second half of the 15^th century the fortress changed owners several times. In his will George II Rákóczi left the fortress at the accompanying five villages to his confidential man, the later Prince János Kemény and his wife, Zsuzsanna Kállai. Later, for nearly three centuries, the fortress castle remained in the possession of the Kemény family. 

At the end of the Second World War the local inhabitants completely despoiled the building, taking away every movable value. After the nationalization it first housed a reformatory, then it was transformed into the home of handicapped children and women. In the period 1968‒1974 it was restored based on Gyula Keresztes’s plans.

After the regime change, János Kemény’s heir, Miklós Kemény reclaimed the building, but the vacation of the Rehabilitation Centre took years. At present the building and its garden can be visited.

In the period between the two World Wars the castle and its garden was a significant venue of the Hungarian literary and artistic life in Transylvania. János Kemény (XI) founded there the Erdélyi Helikon. The stone table designed by Károly Kós and given as a present by Sándor Makkai Reformed bishop to János Kemény and his wife in 1935 stands as a memento of this. The grave of the writer Count Albert Wass de Czege (1908‒1998) is located nearby. János Kemény, his wife, Augusta Patton of Grandholm, and their daughter, the opera singer Klió Kemény were also buried there.