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Bartolomej Gönczy bought the ruins of the castle and restaurant above the town of Královský Chlumec in eastern Slovakia for around two and a half million crowns. He immediately began demolishing the restaurant and part of the castle, because they do not correspond to the original medieval character. He threw a lot of money into the air and will throw a lot more, he estimates 25 to 30 million crowns. He is carrying out the reconstruction of Csonkavár Castle in cooperation with archaeologists and thus fulfilling his dream.
Royal Chlumec (Slovakia)
20:55 April 28, 2024
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Bartlomej Gönczy is a manager of an international company who lived in Prague for sixteen years and two years ago returned to the east of Slovakia near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border to become, as he says, a “local madman”.
Notebook of Ľubomír Smatana
For the seventh year, he has been self-helply removing the remains of deposits left by the flow of time on the site of the medieval Csonkavár castle. “We save where we can,” he explains, as he continues to persistently remove clay from the remains of the masonry.
There used to be a functional restaurant with a terrace, which Bartlomej Gönczy canceled and gradually demolished. A huge amount of material, an estimated 700 tons of soil, is taken away from here every year.
“I am a destroyer and a builder at the same time. But it will be nicer here, I think,” he smiles and gazes at the results of his work.
Roost? The palace for sure
“I warned him right from the start that this was no joke. It will take a while,” laughs archaeological technician Arpád Balog. “When he bought it, there was a working pub – there was cooking down there. There was a kitchen, toilets, a bar… Well, he canceled it all. So what can I tell you?’
Together, they have so far managed to uncover the entire original building in its floor plan. “It’s 25 by 25 meters. We are not yet sure if it is a castle, but it was definitely a residential building, i.e. a palace building,” explains Bartlomej Gönczy in fluent Czech.
What strength and wallet will allow
His “castle”, as the locals call the building, is located on a hillside with a nice view of Subcarpathian Rus. “I had a dream to build my own winery here. I started buying vineyards and planting new ones, and I was looking for some background for them,” he explains his plans.
He is currently able to invest a certain amount every year in his dream. But since the overall restoration will be financially demanding, he already knows that he will also need financial help in the form of a grant to complete it.
“Now every year I only do what I can do,” summarizes Bartolomej, the gentleman from Královské Chlumec, succinctly.
Ľubomír Smatana, and
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