This website is an archive from 2016

This site was actively maintained from 2006 to 2016. Since then I have kept it online for historical interest, but have made no further updates. Much of the information in these pages is now incorrect or obsolete.

Prince Charles strikes again in Transylvania

03 November 2007

In an earlier post I mentioned the compulsion of UK newspapers to seek out the Transylvanian village of Viscri because of its association with Prince Charles. It seems that the Prince is becoming even more of a Transylvanian cliché than Dracula: he is mentioned yet again in an article in today’s Guardian.

The article describes a stay at the Count Mikes estate in Zabola, in the Székely Land northwest of Braşov. Like a number of estates belonging to the old Hungarian-speaking aristocracy, Zabola has been restored and now provides accommodation to tourists. There are a couple of appropriate quotations from Patrick Leigh Fermor, who enjoyed the hospitality of Transylvanian mansions in an earlier and very different era. If you want to know more, the Mikes estate has an informative website.