For sale: Peles castleaa‚¬A¦

Newsroom 22/02/2010 | 11:16

The Romanian Royal Family intends to put Peles, one of the flagship Romanian castles under its ownership, up for sale, announced the minister of culture, Kelemen Hunor. He added that the state should consider buying the castle and start mobilizing the necessary resources.

“The moment we receive written notification, we must give an answer as to whether we will use our pre-emption right or not. If we do not use this right, the question is what will happen to the 60,000 items in Peles and Pelisor castles and what will happen later to the castle?” said Hunor. The minister said he would prefer that the state bought the site even if the payment is made in installments over the course of several years, in order to keep it as a museum.

King Mihai I officially returned to Peles Castle in 2008, when it became a royal residence for the first time in 60 years. “I hope that my definitive return to Peles, the historic location of the royal family, is the beginning of total and definitive respect for private property, dignity, democracy and freedoms, institutions in Romanian society,” he said at the time.