The Teleki Castle in Koltó, renovated in 2020 and furnished as a modern museum, and its garden attract tourists from far and wide.
In May 2024, it had 1,300 visitors, and its operators expect a tourist peak in the summer months. In our report presenting the estate, we tour the castle and the castle garden, which preserve the imprint of different ages, under the guidance of a museologist.
The most significant Hungarian cultural achievement in Márámaros in recent decades is the renovation of the Teleki Castle in Koltó and its operation as a modern museum. As a journalist, I was able to accompany the various stages of the building renovation and museum equipment, so I saw from the inside the hard work involved in the acceptance and implementation of the cultural project of Hungarian interest.
Mayor Lajos Csendes rang the doorbell many times in government offices in Bucharest, until the nearly 1.4 million euro grant was awarded to the municipality, and the works could begin at the end of 2017.
Three years later, in the middle of the coronavirus epidemic, in 2020, the renovated castle was handed over to its original beauty. The crowd that flocked to Kolto caused quite a headache for the organizers to comply with the strict health rules imposed due to the pandemic. But as they say, all's well that ends well: the day after the ribbon cutting, the collection and processing of the materials for the exhibitions on the history of the Teleki family and the main attraction - presenting the honeymoon of Sándor Petőfi and Júlia Szendrey - began, as well as the preparation of the permanent exhibitions.
The last part of the exhibition opened last October: over the years, the collaboration with the Petőfi Literary Museum in Budapest has become a fruitful professional relationship.
The statue of the revolutionary poet and his wife erected in 1997 in the garden of the castle • Photo: József Makkay
There are many guests from Hungary and Székelyföld. Today's Koltó center often resembles a farewell place, so many guests come mostly from Hungary, but a good number of students also come from Transylvania, especially when the School holds a different week in the educational institutions of the various counties. When I was there, students from a Budapest college were walking around the spacious park around the castle. After talking with them, it turned out that they were visiting Transylvania for the first time: they arrived on the Nagyvárad-Szatmárnémeti-Nagybánya route and spent time in all three cities, visiting with their teachers and the hosts of a local school. One of the young men spoke highly of the museum's offerings: he said that museums with similar themes in Budapest or Vienna are no more interesting, and the Budapest team had a great time at Koltó.
Featured image: The welcoming Teleki Castle in Koltó • Photo: József Makkay
