The Mikó Castle

Count Hídvégi Ferenc Mikó (1585-1635), advisor to the great Transylvanian prince Gábor Bethlen, diplomat and chronicler, chief captain of Csík/Ciuc, started building the castle bearing his name on 26 April 1623.

The castle took its present form during the reconstruction under the leadership of the imperial general Steinville in 1714-16, as the inscription on the stone above the entrance gate attests. Csík/Ciuc, and Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc in particular, is traditionally one of the strongholds of the Catholic religion in Transylvania. A Franciscan grammar school was established in Somlyó/Șumuleu from 1630, and from 1676 the famous printing house of János Kájoni was established.