CSERNOVICS CASTLE

The village of Macea (Mácsa) is located near Arad (Arad), close to the Hungarian state border. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1380, under the name Macha. From the 18th century onward, one of the most significant landowners of the settlement was the Csernovics family. Two members of this noble family of Serbian origin, Mihály Csernovics and his son János, received a patent of nobility from Charles III in 1720, and in 1724 they acquired estates in Arad County, including Macea. Subsequently, the family’s first, more modest manor house was built in the center of the settlement. The construction works of the manor house were most likely completed in 1745, with the death of Mihály Csernovics.

From his first marriage, Mihály Csernovics had one son, the aforementioned János; from his second marriage he had two sons, Pál and Simon, as well as two daughters, Anna and Lujza. In addition, after marrying his second wife, Anna Kováni, he also took her two sons, Arzén and György Szirovicza, under his name. Later, the original bloodline of the Csernovics family came to an end, and the family name was carried on by the adopted children. Lázár, the eldest son of Arzén, obtained the title of count in 1793. The castle in Macea was inherited in 1804 by another son of Arzén, Pál Csernovics, who took care of the restoration of the noble residence. The construction of the present castle is also associated with his name, carried out between 1815 and 1830. At that time, the eastern wing of the castle with its two towers was completed.

After the death of Pál Csernovics in 1840, the Macea estate passed into the ownership of his son, Péter. Count Péter Csernovics is one of the best-known members of the family and an important figure of the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849. In 1843, the Batthyány government appointed him lord lieutenant of Timiș County and royal commissioner for the southern regions, and following the popular uprising in Nagykikinda (today belongs to Serbia) on 14 April 1848, he was tasked with calming social and national discontent in the south. He is often referred to as a tragic hero of the southern events of 1848, as his attempt to reconcile the Serbian population ended in failure. Subsequently, Minister of the Interior Bertalan Szemere relieved him of his duties as government commissioner, and he no longer played a significant role in the events of the War of Independence, withdrawing from public life as well. His estates extended over three counties: Arad, Timiș, and Torontal. The count supported the arts, and his patronage of the theatre is still acknowledged by theatre history today. He also commissioned the construction of the Orthodox church of Macea at the beginning of the 19th century, on the site of a wooden church built around 1700. Nevertheless, he spent lavishly and eagerly indulged in aristocratic passions, earning from his contemporaries the well-deserved epithet „the greatest Hungarian cavalier.” His extravagant lifestyle led him into bankruptcy: in 1866 the family estate in Macea was lost, and in his old age he was forced to live on charity, withdrawing in the final stage of his life to his son-in-law’s castle in Fény, where he died on 27 April 1892.

In 1866, the castle of Macea and its associated estate came into the ownership of the Károlyi family. The circumstances of this transfer are unclear: while some assumptions suggest that Péter Csernovics lost the family estate center in a card game, other versions claim that the Károlyi family acquired the ensemble through purchase. What is certain is that, on the commission of György Károlyi, extensive construction works took place in Macea after 1866, during which the western wing of the castle and its four-storey tower were built. At that time, the imposing coat of arms of the Károlyi family was also placed on the building. After the death of György Károlyi in 1877, the estate was inherited by his son, Tibor.

Tibor Károlyi was born on 26 September 1843 in Pozsony (today belongs to Slovakia) as the fourth son of Count György Károlyi de Nagykároly and Countess Karolina Zichy de Zics and Vásonkeő. After completing his studies, he became a member of the Klapka Legion founded in Upper Silesia, which represented the last major military attempt of the Hungarian emigration after the defeat of the War of Independence of 1848–1849 to overthrow Habsburg rule. In 1867 he returned to Macea and became involved in Hungarian political life, while at the same time developing the management of his estates. Among his properties was Tiborszállás in Szatmár County, which took its name from its owner. There he met Emma, the daughter of Count Imre Degenfeld-Schonburg, a landowner from Nyírbakta, whom he married in 1868. The couple had three children: Gabriella, Gyula, and Imre. Tibor Károlyi died in 1904, and his estates were inherited by his eldest son, Gyula.

Gyula Károlyi served as lord lieutenant of Arad County and the city of Arad between 1906 and 1910, after which he withdrew from politics and managed the family estates. At his request, the metal terrace attached to the eastern corner of the castle in Macea was built. After the Treaty of Trianon, he moved to his Budapest residence, and in the late 1920s he again became actively involved in political life: in 1927 he became a member of the Upper House, in 1928 he received the title of Crown Guard, in 1930 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and between 1931 and 1932 he served as Prime Minister of Hungary. During this period, the castle and park of Macea became abandoned; in 1939 the ensemble was purchased by the physician Adam Iancu, originating from Curtici (Kürtös), who owned it until the nationalization of 1949.

During the communist period, the castle housed an orphanage, a home for the blind, and the headquarters of the Agricultural Cooperative. The castle was severely damaged and plundered during the two World Wars, and the garden also suffered significant damage after being used as pastureland for a long time. The first restoration of the building took place only between 1956 and 1957.

After the change of regime, from 1991 onward, the castle was leased by the Vasile Goldiș Western University of Arad, which has recently purchased both the building and the surrounding park. In 2016, the necessary restoration works were carried out, after which the university used the building as an academic center, where today various scientific meetings, international conferences, and exhibitions are organized.

The construction of the castle in Macea took place in two main phases: the earlier eastern wing was built in the 1810s–1830s at the commission of the Csernovics family, while the later western wing was completed in the 1860s–1880s during the period of the Károlyi family. The building is designed in a historicist style, combining elements of late Baroque, Neo-Renaissance, Byzantine, and Classical architecture. The massing of the castle is asymmetrical, with an L-shaped ground plan, enlivened and articulated by towers, roof forms, and projecting risalits of various shapes and sizes.

The building has two storeys: a pronounced lower level clad with rusticated stone blocks, followed by a representative upper level with large semicircular-arched windows on the façade and delicate stucco decorations. The corners of the building are emphasized by quoins, and it is covered by a prominent mansard roof articulated by ornate chimneys and dormer windows. The exterior walls of the castle were once adorned with ivy, which was removed after nationalization. Two square-plan towers covered with Baroque-style domes are attached to the western façade of the eastern wing. On the lower level of the left-hand tower opens the main entrance of the castle, above which a terrace resting on Doric pilasters can be seen. The wall behind the terrace is embellished with the coat of arms of the Károlyi family, made of fired ceramic and supported by lions. A metal terrace is attached to the eastern corner of the wing, which was added to the building in the first half of the 20th century. At the junction of the two wings of the L-shaped building rises a four-storey tower, whose levels are adorned with windows of different shapes.

The main entrance of the castle opens into an imposing entrance hall, from which a carved stone staircase leads to the upper floor. During the period of the Csernovics family, the rooms were decorated with wall paintings – painted flowers and fruits – while during the time of the Károlyi family they were wallpapered. The most representative room of the building was the large hall on the upper floor.

In the park are the tomb monuments of two of the Martyrs of Arad, János Damjanich and György Lahner. After the suppression of the revolution, on 6 October 1849, Péter Csernovics commissioned his steward to recover the earthly remains of his brother-in-law János Damjanich (the husband of Emília Csernovics), as well as those of Generals Lahner, Vécsey, and Leiningen, who were closely associated with him. With the assistance of Gyula Urbán and two lawyers from Arad, the steward succeeded in purchasing from the executioner the bodies of Damjanich and Lahner, which were then transported under the cover of night to Macea. Péter Csernovics designated the burial sites of the generals in a secluded part of the park, and the interments were carried out at night, after which the mounds were leveled. A few years later, the estate was purchased by the Károlyi family, and above the previously inconspicuous mounds Countess Gabriella Károlyi erected tombstones made of white marble. The remains rested in the castle park until 1974, when they were placed in the pedestal of the obelisk erected at the site of execution in Arad, together with the ashes of nine other generals.

The history of the botanical garden surrounding the castle is closely connected to that of the building. The garden was originally established by the Csernovics family in the first half of the 19th century and was significantly expanded by the Károlyi family in the second half of the century. During the expansion, fountains and tennis courts were built, and the garden was enclosed by a wooded area that was populated with pheasants. From the very beginning, the park was of great significance due to the rarity of the trees and shrubs found there. Such rare plant species included the ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) – brought to Macea by Péter Csernovics from his Near Eastern journey in 1845 – as well as specimens of yew, black walnut, and Turkish hazel, and also plane trees and linden species of gigantic size. In the first half of the 20th century, as a result of the World Wars and nationalization, the park also fell into a severely deteriorated condition. In 1968 it officially became a protected dendrological park, then in 1990 it came into the ownership of the university, and in 1994 it was designated a botanical garden. Thanks to the university, today it contains more than 2,500 species of trees, shrubs, medicinal plants, and other plants. Among the auxiliary buildings, the former hunting pavilion currently houses the Botanical Museum.