The Nákó Castle from Sannicolau Mare
The Nákó Castle from Sannicolau Mare, Timis county, was built in 1864, by the count Nákó Kálmán, being used as a family residence in this part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The Nákó family took the possession of the domain where the castle was built with the help of Nákó Kristóf and Nákó Cziril, who bought the Sannicolau domain in 1781. The edifice was designed in the neoclassic style, like the other castles and mannors from those times, being surrounded by a beautiful park, having rare species of trees.
The tower, being inspired by the medieval architecture, represents the central element of the castle, being essential in organizing the building, which had 99 rooms in the beginning. It also had a large balcony, with the view to the park.
The castle hosted during the Second World War, the centre of the Fascist Guards, being also a barracks and armory. In the first years of the communism the castle becomes boarding school, becoming afterwards the House of Culture, in 1974. Nowadays the Nákó Castle hosts the House of Culture and the Museum Béla Bartók, so that there are organized exhibitions, shows and conferences.
AS a monograph of Sannicolau Mare, written by Ioan Romosan shows, the castle was a real museum, where there could be find over 5000 rare books, a Cinquecento altar, many valuable paintings made by Franz Adam, Lemback and Schrottsberg, haunting trophies brought from Africa, a valuable collection of porcelain, sculpted wardrobes, that after 1919 disappear. Unfortunately most of this thesauri was lost.
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