Castelul Bethlen din Dragu (jud. Sălaj)

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The current Bethlen castle in Dragu was built in the first half of the 17th century by Kamuthy Blasius de Szent László, a four-sided building with corner towers and an interior courtyard. The foundation inscription of this first phase (1620) is still embedded in the western wing of the current castle. In 1723, the castle was given to Carol VI as a gift to the Wesselényi family. At the beginning of the 19th century, Count Wesselényi transformed the Renaissance building into a neo-classic one (between 1810-1816). Later, through Sarlote Wesselényi's marriage to Edmund Bethlen, imperial courtier of Emperor Franz Iosef, the castle passed into the ownership of the Bethlen family. The communist regime converted the castle into the seat of the CAP, some rooms being transformed into private residences. Here, a cultural center for the Dragu community also operated for a time.