The project’s aim was to continue our efforts to safeguard and restore the Transylvanian residence of Count Miklós Bánffy, i.e., Bánffy Castle, Bonțida. In this phase we managed to finalise the restoration of the former carriage house, where we opened an educational workshop.

The educational workshop provides an opportunity to learn, through practical training, traditional trades that are also necessary for historic building conservation, where we await, among others, pupils from schools in the area, as well as trade schools from Cluj-Napoca and university students from the whole of the Carpathian Basin. In addition to traditional hand tools, which are over 100 years old, the workshop provides students with the latest technologies to learn the practical skills of the trade, under the supervision of skilled craftspeople trained in Romania, Hungary and France.

Our Foundation has more than 20 years of experience in organising educational programmes, as since 2001 the castle has acted as host for the Built Heritage Conservation Training Programme, which thus far has provided heritage training to more than 4500 students from 30 countries around the world. Its unique concept (participants contribute to the restoration of the castle, at the same time learning different heritage-related skills) received in 2008 the most prestigious prize in the field, the Europa Nostra Grand Prix. The programme consists of (yearly organised one or two) two-week training courses in traditional crafts, such as joinery and furniture restoration, carpentry, stonemasonry, masonry and mural decorations.

The project’s other result was the restoration of the former stables – a particularly significant space in terms of the castle’s revitalisation – and their use as an events venue. With a usable area of approximately 550 sqm, we hope that it will become a venue for important cultural and community events in the region.