It came as a surprise to the Szilágy County Council that it could not exercise its right of pre-emption, because the owner of the Wesselényi Castle in Zsibo had already sold one of the most beautiful Baroque buildings in Transylvania.

The municipality originally allocated around four million lei for this purpose, so the case is being taken to court. According to the heir, the municipality missed the deadline.

According to Maszol.ro, the castle was first put up for sale in 2015 by the Artmark auction house in Bucharest, and in 2016 the Szilágy County Council was asked to use its right of pre-emption, but at that time they asked for 1.5 million euros for the castle. and the county government could not afford this based on its budget. In March of this year, they were notified that they could use their right of pre-emption again, because they were only asking 800,000 euros for the castle.

István Róbert Szilágyi, of the county council indicated on March 29, the twelfth day after the notice , and the procedures required by law were initiated. This all took place at the beginning of April. Artmark called on the county government to present the council decision by April 30, with which they included in the budget the amount needed to buy the castle, and also to prove that they have started the procedures regarding the right of first refusal, because they have a client by April 30 who would buy the property. At the county self-government meeting on April 28, the amount needed for the purchase was included in the budget, and the five-member negotiating committee was appointed to carry it out. After that, there was no response from the owner, nor from the Bucharest company Artmark Historical Estate Kft. representing him. In the meantime, it turned out that Micro Vision Consult Kft. already bought the castle for 800,000 euros on April 20.

András Janicskó, the heir of the castle , told MTI: the Szilágy county government ran out of the legal deadline by asserting the right of pre-emption. He added that, as far as he knows, the buyer has already oversold the castle . He would like the renovation of the castle to begin as soon as possible, and for the Wesselényi museum to operate in the building. The heirs were forced to sell the castle because they realized that they could not raise the amount necessary for renovation and maintenance.

The Wesselényi Castle in Zsibo is considered one of the most beautiful baroque buildings in Transylvania, which is one of the most defining cultural heritages of Szilágyság. The construction of the castle began in 1778, and it acquired its current form during the time of Miklós Wesselényi the elder, he also built the stable next to the castle in 1771. The pride of the Wesselényis was the famous Zibo stud, which was passed down from father to son. The castle was completely completed in 1810. The building combines baroque and classicist architectural elements, its large arcaded loggia and four corner bastions in accordance with medieval traditions are particularly spectacular.

more about this here .

Photo: Wikipedia