Tour Of The Castles | Upper Mureș Valley

Mureș County stands out as the county with the most castles and manor houses in Romania. According to the National Heritage Institute, there are over six hundred castles, manors and estates in Romania. About forty of them are in Mures county, as part of the architectural heritage of the Hungarian nobility in Transylvania.

The tour of the castles of the Upper Mures Valley is a way of highlighting these architectural treasures as tourist attractions of the destination they represent. The tour includes the castles: Kemény (Brâncovenești), Rákoczy-Bornemisza (Gurghiu), Teleki (Gornești), Teleki (Dumbrăvioara), Máriaffi (Sângeorgiu de Mureș), which we will present in turn further on.

The route proposed and tested by us is about 70 km long and can be covered in a single day, whether you choose the train and bicycle or your personal car as a means of transport. We chose to use alternative means of transport, on a beautiful summer day, starting from Târgu Mureș CFR train station. The train carriages operated by the Interregional company have bike racks, so we could transport our bikes by train from Târgu Mureș to Brâncovnești. The journey takes about an hour and the ticket cost around 8 lei/pers. full price. 

From Halta Brâncovenești, the first stop was Kemény Castle, where we were guided by one of the descendants of the Kemény family, Mr. Nagy Kemény Géza.  

Situated in the valley of the Upper Mures River, it now faithfully reflects the elements of the late Baroque era after the changes of 1818. In the interwar period, the Helikon cultural association operated here, bringing together the most prominent Hungarian literary figures of the time. Since 2014, the castle has been back in the ownership of the Kemény family, who opened it to the public.

Visiting hours: Mon - Fri 10.00 - 17.00 / Sat - Sun 9.00 - 18.00

Closed on Mondays.

Contact: +4 0741 225 141

 

From Brâncovenești we hopped on our bikes and cycled along a quiet side road towards Gurghiu. We passed through Ideciu de Sus, Ideciu de Jos, Solovăstru, Jabenița and Adrian. On leaving Adrian, we headed towards the centre of Gurghiu, where we stopped at Rákoczy-Bornemisza Castle, or the former Foresters' School, as the locals know it.

On this stretch of road, you can enjoy images that evoke the peaceful rural life, but you can also enjoy a bathing break at Ideciu de Jos Salt Baths or Jabenița Baths, both of which are just off the road.

Once at the castle, we visited the inner courtyard and strolled through the beautiful dendrological park, home to over 350 species of plants. From the park you can walk along a path to the top of the hill overlooking the castle, where there is a chapel, and where you can still see the ruins of the first defense fortress in the area. 

Baron János Bornemisza restored the first hunting castle, built in 1642, and extended it between 1718 and 1734 in Baroque style. In 1881 Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria refurbished and converted the building into a hunting castle, and the barn next to the castle was converted into a guest house. The dendrological park next to the castle is a real highlight of the castle. Only the park can be visited.

From Gurghiu the tour took us back to the main road, along Mures Valley, where we were to dazzle at the castles of the great Teleki family, but not before feasting our eyes in Gurghiu Valley, where we found shade in the Mociar Forest and where we took a coffee break at the restaurant with the most beautiful setting in the area: the Hunter VIP.

After a few kilometers on the main road, which is much more heavily trafficked than the ones we had used up to this point, we arrived in the village of Gornești, at the imposing Teleki Castle, which is just up the road.

Built in Baroque style between 1772 and 1803 on a U-shaped plan in the style of "Grassalkovich" palaces, the access to the main entrance is over a bridge.  The most beautiful part of the castle is the large drawing room upstairs, where the original plasterwork, the two rococo-style white porcelain stoves and three chandeliers have been preserved. The English Park with rare trees provides a wonderful setting for various outdoor events. The castle is currently under restoration until 2026!

Contact: +4 0749 356 134

After a guided tour we continued towards Târgu Mureș and stopped at Dumbrăvioara to see Teleki Castle, built by the same family but a different branch.

The construction was started in 1769 by the Chancellor of Transylvania, Sámuel Teleki, founder of the Teleki Library in Târgu Mureș and continued by his great-grandson, the explorer Teleki Sámuel. He joined the existing 18th-century buildings with the neo-baroque central body, transforming them into a whole. The castle was considered one of the most lavishly furnished aristocratic houses in Transylvania in the interwar period, but following post-war devastation and looting, the furnishings were largely destroyed. The Teleki family got the castle back in 2005 but sold it and it is now privately owned.

The castle can be visited by appointment only. Contact: +4 0757823242

From Dumbrăvioara we left the main road and headed towards the banks of the Mureș River, and before the bridge over the Mureș at the entrance to Glodeni, we continued our way along the river downstream. This was the most arduous segment of the tour, as after paved roads, we cycled on gravel and dirt roads. However, we had a relaxing time and were accompanied by bird trails, undisturbed by traffic. 

In Sângeorgiu de Mureș, we climbed up to Máriaffi Castle, where we had a guided tour.

Sitting in a beautiful setting overlooking the Mureș River, the building has two floors and a symmetrical structure, with two 28 meter long facades and an ornate look provided by windows framed by shutters and cornices. The castle was owned by the Petki family from the Szeklerland until the first half of the 19th century, and in 1817 it became the property of the Máriaffi family. At the end of the 19th century, the castle was renovated in eclectic style, the construction work being carried out by the master mason Soós Pál from Târgu Mureș. 

Today, Máriaffi Castle is owned by the Town Hall of Sângeorgiu de Mureș, which intends to introduce it to the tourist circuit once the renovation work is completed.

The castle can be visited. Contact: +4 0721 233 751

From here we returned to Târgu Mureș, where we arrived in the afternoon and ended the tour with a well-deserved feast in the medieval citadel of Târgu Mureș.

All in all, this tour can be done by anyone who is passionate about outdoor activities and has minimal training in cycling. You should be prepared though to spend a whole day in the saddle. But if you have more days at your disposal, you can spend a night at one of the accommodation units in the area, thus dedicating enough time for other visits, such as: a visit to a workshop of luthiers in the town of Reghin, the Anton Badea Open Air Ethnographic Museum also in Reghin or a few hours of relaxation in the salt waters of the Ideciu de Jos swimming pool. Depending on the season, you can admire the blooming field of daffodils near the Mociar Forest, taste a fresh trout at the Trout Farm in Lăpușna or eat at the Local Gastronomic Point in Ibănești.

Both Mureș Valley and Gurghiu Valley offer countless possibilities for spending your free time, so we highly recommend spending several days in the area to give you time to explore them in depth.