I know I could open BTTW but I might still find that I don’t know the answer so I thought in this electronic age the best thing would be to go viral with the question Can we Help Nick Find Istvan’s Kastely?
I received this note from Nick just an hour or so ago …
Tom
Thanks so much for your support with reposting some of my articles. I’m glad people seem to be finding them interesting. I’ve got one question about the Romanian leg of the journey — do you have any idea where Istvan’s kastely was? It’s somewhere east of Zam, near the river Mures, but there’s nothing more specific than that. I’ve had a lot of help on the other kastelys from someone called Ileana who works for this organisation – http://monumenteuitate.blogspot.com/ – involved in restoring and preserving historic buildings in Romania. She contacted me having found my blog somehow, and is really helpful. I’m not sure if she has any more clues about the location of Istvan’s place.Hope all is well with you. Have you been travelling recently? Best wishes from Budapest… and soon from the Great Hungarian Plain.Nick
Any clues or answers please email me or add a comment. I am sure we will crack this so thank you in advance!
If you are looking for Istvan Ugron’s castle, it is located in Zau de Câmpie commune, Mures county. You can easily find it using Google Maps by searching for Castelul Ugron Istvan or Zau de Câmpie.
I don’t know if you are looking for the one in Gurasada/Hunedoara or this one in Zau de Campie, also called the calendar-castle.
Would it be this one, nowadays a Psychiatric facility?
http://wikimapia.org/12608897/ro/Castelul-Nopcsa-azi-Spitalul-de-psihiatrie
http://www.besthotels.ro/ro/cetati-si-castele/castele/60-castele/266-castelul-nopcsa-zam.html
Razvan – it is worth checking out. Many of the places that Paddy stayed in or visited – perhaps this one is for a neighbour? – appear to have been converted into such places.
Hello.
Yes, Istvan’s kastely is the one in Gurasada. You can find photos here: http://www.monumenteuitate.ro/r/175/
Irina (a colleague of Ileana’s at monumenteuitate.ro)
Thank you both very much! It is excellent that you helped so quickly. If you are in the area in mid- April I am sure Nick would love to catch up with you.
Tom
I tried desperately to find it a couple of years ago, to no avail. It is almost certainly located in the village of Gurasada (fantastic church), but elusive.
There is one person who in fact knows where it is, the operator of sthg called Transylvania Revisited or something like that, they even propose a PLF tour along his route. It’s based in Cumbria I think and I saw it’s web page once, but can’t find it now…
I think it is this one. Mike Morton is his name. Info supplied by Marion Worsley. Keep the ideas and info coming!
GURASADA
Home of Itsvan (believed to be Elemer Von Klobusiky) located just above Gurasada beside the road to Runcsor. The house is as described – a mixture of manor house and farmstead overlooking the Mures – Even the green and purple panes of the fanlight windows are intact. It is now an agricultural college belonging to the ministry of Agriculture.