Between March and June 2023, the archaeological research was resumed and completed within the project for the rehabilitation of the Barcsay-Bánffy Castle in Gilău. Excavations in 2023 affected the area in front of the eastern wing of the castle and identified elements of the defensive system as well as traces of a building.
As part of the rehabilitation project of the Barcsay-Bánffy Castle in Gilău, the preventive archaeological excavations initiated in previous years were continued and completed. The castle is located in the immediate vicinity of the auxiliary Roman cavalry fort, where it was stationed that of Siliana. The first mention of the fortress dates from 1428, when it was the property of the bishop of Transylvania. Regarding the buildings from the Middle Ages, we have only a few sporadic documentary data, respectively some late Renaissance architectural elements. Much better documented is the early modern era, primarily the renovations initiated in 1639 by Prince György Rákóczi I. Following these, the buildings in the medieval fortress courtyard were demolished, and the newly built ones were glued to the enclosure wall, thus transforming the fortress medieval in a quadrangular castle with four wings and a tower in each of the four corners. The castle was surrounded by a wide defensive moat. After this period of prosperity, during the uprising led by Francis Rákóczi II, the castle, then owned by the Bánffy family, was besieged several times and then left in ruins. The last reconstruction took place in the XNUMXth century, when the defense ditch was also plugged.
Research in the spring-summer of 2023 was carried out east of the castle. In front of the north-eastern and south-eastern towers, the defensive moat and its counter-escarpment wall that surrounded the castle were discovered, having been identified at several points during previous research. In front of the large ditch, another smaller ditch, parallel to it, was discovered at both mentioned points. At approx. 30 m east of the east wing of the castle was identified the corner of a stone-walled building, probably of the late medieval - early modern period. Clarification of its timeline and functionality requires further research in the future.
