Introduction
The first
involvement of the IHBC in Romania was at the invitation of the British
Council (Bucharest) and the Romanian Ministry of Culture during the
Autumn of 1998. The initial invitation was to help develop a project to
re-establish traditional building craft skills in Romania, in
partnership with the Transylvania Trust. |
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The
Prince of Wales in the Restored Bastion Cafe of Banffy Castle receiving
a copy of the 2002 IHBC Yearbok from David Baxter IHBC European
Secretary
Full Story
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The Project
 Through the partnership of the
Transylvania Trust and the IHBC a long term project has been developed
to revive and disseminate traditional building craft skills in Romania
following the devastation of the Ceausescu years, (when repairs to
historic buildings was actively discouraged and many buildings were
actually demolished) to promote high quality historic building
conservation in order to preserve the country’s unique and valuable
built heritage. The initial project – The Aiud Conservation and
Trans-national Training (ACTT) Project was seen as a first step in
developing a built heritage training strategy at a national level in
Romania. Its goal is the creation of a National Crafts Skills Training
Centre at Banffy Castle , Bontida, which will also serve neighbouring
Eastern European countries.
 The
work in Romania has involved a direct partnership between the IHBC, the
Transylvania Trust, The Oxford Brookes University and The Technical
University of Cluj. It has incorporated training workshops jointly led
by British and Romanian craftsmen teaching skills in traditional
rendering, carpentry and joinery, stone repairs, masonry consolidation
and roofing. In the four years since its inception over 140 students
have attended the courses. The courses combine the formal teaching of
conservation philosophy with practical workshop sessions on historic
buildings in Romania thereby achieving a restoration of the building
through the project.
The aim of the project is to Teach the Teachers, and it has already
achieved that success in that several students from the 2000 Project
returned as teachers for the 2001 project. |
Who are the
Transylvania Trust? 
The Transylvania Trust is
a charitable organisation established in 1996 with an unrivalled
reputation for conservation work in Romania. Since its inception it has
won a Europa Nostra Award for the restoration of the Calvary Church in
Cluj-Napoca, and a Europa Nostra Medal for its excellent grant scheme
in the historic village of Rimetea. |
Bontida 2001 and Beyond
 The project moved to Banffy Castle, Bontida,
during the summer of 2001. The castle is one of the most important
buildings in Transylvania and is currently under the guardianship of
the Ministry of Culture and Religion. With their permission the project
concentrated on the restoration of the former kitchen block which dates
partly from the 19th century but also incorporates a drum tower/bastion
which formed part of the 16th century defences.  In
parallel with the work at Bontida a second site was used at the village
of Maiad where the restoration of the church oak roof was undertaken.
The normal philosophy used in Romania is to replace completely
defective elements rather than repair. The work at Maiad was therefore
very much a pioneering approach and one which had never been achieved
on this type of structure in Romania.
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Support for the Project 
The Project
has received the support of The British Council (Bucharest), The
Ministries of Culture and National Education (Romania), The British
Embassy (Bucharest),The European Union (Romania), PHARE (Romania),
ICOMOS (Romania), The Ministry of Culture (Hungary),The British Council
(London), English Heritage, ICOMOS
(UK and Europe), the Councils of Herefordshire and South Shropshire,
and of course the patronage and support of His Royal Highness The
Prince of Wales. |
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Current Situation
The BHCT
Project, based at Bánffy Castle, Bontida, Romania achieved a number of
landmarks during 2002. The first few months of the year were concerned
with fund raising to ensure the success of the Project for the year,
and in developing relationships with other Organisations. Consequently
by April a strategy for the restoration of the Parkland had been agreed
with The Pro Patrimonio, who under the guidance of Sherban Cantacuzino
will undertake the work. Also in early April we received confirmation
of the success of our fund raising efforts with an award of funds from
The Getty Grant Programme. |
Contacts
For further information,
or if you are interested in becoming involved in the project contact;
Dave Baxter, IHBC European Officer Email: dbaxter@cluj.astral.ro
Csilla Hegedus, Financial Director, Transylvania Trust E mail:
cshegedus@transylvaniatrust.ro
Web site
of the
Transylvania Trust
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