Heritage buildings are "crying" for help

The Ministry of Culture has repeatedly announced that the restoration of heritage buildings is a short- and medium-term priority. In the field, however, things are still bad, and not necessarily because of the authorities. Several dozen historical monument buildings in Covasna county, including several churches and old mansions, are in an advanced state of decay and require urgent restoration interventions, warns the leadership of the County Culture Directorate. According to the interim director of the institution, Meder Lorant Laszlo, most of them are privately owned, and some of them, such as the old wooden wooden houses, are in such a state of disrepair that there is a risk that they can no longer be saved: "On this list are both privately owned monuments and monuments owned by local authorities that require urgent intervention. We have repeatedly drawn attention to the danger of them being degraded and lost (...) Balvanyos Citadel, towards for example, it's a ruin. Also, there are a lot of old houses, built of wood, in a very, very advanced state of decay. The owners have the obligation to rehabilitate them, but they don't have the funds (...) We do our duty to attract attention, but we cannot interfere in private property". In this context, he mentioned that the County Directorate for Culture Covasna faces a very large lack of staff and, moreover, it cannot even apply fines in such cases, because the institution does not have an investigative agent. Among the monuments that require urgent intervention are the rural complex around the Unitarian church in Chichiş, several wooden houses in the resort town of Covasna, the former communal slaughterhouse in Sfântu Gheorghe, as well as the former "Hungaria" hotel in the municipality, which houses the headquarters of the County Office of the Covasna Post Office, the Technical Ensemble - the Inclined Plan from Covasna-Comandău, the Domokos mansion in Araci, the iron smelter in Filia, the old customs house in Oituz, the former barracks of the hussars in Ozun, the Thury-Banyai castle in Tamaşfalău and many others. Meder Lorant Laszlo mentioned that in the county there are also positive examples where the owners intervened to rehabilitate buildings, mentioning, among others, the complex of the Szekler National Museum in Sfântu Gheorghe, the complex of the Roman Catholic church of St. Michael in Lemnia, as well as the Szentkereszty funeral chapel Stefania from Târgu Secuiesc, where the works were completed last year.

Also, there is a series of interventions being carried out at historical monuments of category A, approved by the Ministry of Culture, such as those at the Miko castle in Olteni, the Reformed Church in Biborţeni and the Reformed Church in Saciova, all financed by PNRR, but also at category B historical monuments, such as those at the Szekely Miko College and the former Girls' Normal School, today the "Mihai Viteazul" National College, both from Sfântu Gheorghe municipality. Among the investments expected this year, for which a favorable opinion was requested and issued by the County Directorate for Culture, are the "Tobacco Factory" Ensemble and the Keresztes House in Sfântu Gheorghe, the Kalnoki Castle in Valea Crişului, the Reformed Church in Băţanii Mari and several traditional houses from the town of Bicfalău, financed by PNRR, the Beldi-Mikes Castle from Ozun, the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas from Breţcu and the Beczasy Manor from Dalnic.