Daniel Castle

In the central part of Olasztelek, next to the Main Road, opposite the Reformed Church is the 17^th century Daniel Castle. Above the today walled up gateway there is a symbol known as the emblem of the Daniel family, a sandstone carving displaying a swan with an arrow shot through its neck with the year 1669 and the family’s motto: DEUS PROVIDEBIT (God provides).

The late Rennaisance red andesite door leading from the inner courtyard to the building preserves the memory of the 1669 construction. On its lintel, beneath the toothed ledge a blazon was carved with the owners’ initials --M D (Daniel Mihály) and H I (Haller Judit) — surround the date. In the 1940s the building became the property of the Columban and Balázsi families in Olasztelek, then in the decades of communist dictatorship, it also hosted kindergartens, schools, and the offices of the former Bardoci farm cooperative. Its larger premises were used as storage. After the change of regime due to ownership disputes was uninhabited for a long time, until in 2009 it eventually became the property of Attila and Lilla Rácz, who restored the building in an exemplary manner and converted it into a castle hotel.

Because of the professional work on the walls, in the longer wing they found al secco wall paintings (dry surface painting), that display events from the lives of the Daniel family who lived up to 1680. Several eminent diplomats came from this family. Among others, Daniel Mihály I., who as ambassador, took the Principality’s taxes to the Sublime Porte. His son, Daniel János I. was the Rákóczi lord’s ambassador, and he went to Constantinople and to various European royal courts as well.