Ocna Mureş Castle

Ocna Mureş (Hungarian: Marosújvár, German: Miereschhall) is a town in Alba County, Romania, located in the north-eastern corner of the county, near the Mureş River. The town is situated next to a large deposit of salt. The city was attested as a Roman civilian settlement in Dacia (II-III century AD), known for salt exploitation, as Salinae.

The Teleki Castle in Uioara de Sus (Upper Uioara), a district of Ocna Mureş, was first an medieval castle. In a document from 1290, it was named Castrum Novum (New Castle), supporting the existence of an earlier fortification (10th-11th centuries), from which can be seen today portions of a mound with a ditch. This New Castle was built at the end of the 13th century by order of the Hungarian Crown, to protect the neighboring salt mine. It was then attested in documents of 1336 and 1382. During the 14th century the castle became the property of some nobles.

In 1576 it was the property of Báthori Kristóf, who left it in 1581 to Gálfi János. Michael the Brave donated the castle and the Uioara domain to his counselor Mihalcea, Great Ban of Craiova (1599). In 1620 Prince Bethlen Gábor donate the benefits of the castle and town to the orphaned son of Siményfalvi Székely Mózes. Mikes Mihály acquired the castle during the reign of Apafi Mihály I, and his family owned it until the middle of the 19th century. The Latvian count Mikó Imre repaired the castle and converted it in Baroque style.

The castle was partially demolished to permit the construction (between 1850-1860) of an impressive neo-Gothic castle for the Banffy noble family, building which later became the property of Teleki counts. From the medieval castle can still be seen today the ruins of a pentagonal tower, representing an old dungeon.

The building has a square plan, with ground floor and two levels. The residential building is adjacent to annexes for management staff and estate maintenance. In the court there is a wine cellar and a chapel, which was originally equipped with an organ. The Teleki family arranged around the castle a park with paths and trees, including some rare acclimatized species.

The complex includes the ruins of a church, built in Romanesque style around 1300. There are still preserved some brick walls and a bell tower, that has windows with cubic capitals. Over time, it underwent several major changes. The castle is a historical monument.

Fotos from Ocna Mureş Online.