'Castellum. Organization of interactive exhibitions in the Castle of Carei and the mansion of Szabolcs and promoting them in the context of cross-border tourism'
The project Castellum was born within the cooperation of several decades between the Satu Mare County Museum and the Directorate of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Museums. The project proposed to install exhibitions of historical interiors and of local history in two buildings: the Mudrány mansion of Szabolcs (Hungary) and the Károlyi Castle of Carei (Romania), both monuments of national value. In addition to the exhibition installation, the broader objective of the Castellum project is to integrate the two exhibitions and the monument-buildings in the region's tourist circuit, by providing more information and advertising materials for the amateurs of cultural tourism.
The project is funded under the Hungary-Romania Cross-borderCo-operation Programme 2007-2013 Priority no. 2: Strengthening social and economic development in the border region; Major field of intervention no. 2.1: Supporting cross-border business cooperation Action no. 2.1.3. Tourism development
Partners
- Satu Mare County Museum
- Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg megyei Önkormányzat Múzeumok Igazgatósága (Directorate of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Museums)
Implementation period: 18 months. The project was started in December 2009 and was completed in May 2011.
Project value: 1,010,231 EUR, of which EU funding through the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) is 858,696.35 EUR. The Romanian partner budget (Satu Mare County Museum) is 796,731 euros. Advancing expenditure and self co-financing is provided by the Satu Mare County Council.
General Objectives
Developing and facilitating the cross-border cooperation in order to raise people, communities and economic actors' interest by promoting specific values and benefits of living in the border area.
Specific objectives
Strengthening social and economic cohesion by developing cross-border tourism, inter-institutional contacts and of specialists in the field of cultural heritage. Strengthening social and cultural coherence to people and communities by common building and promoting cultural heritage.
Target group
The people of Carei municipality and Satu Mare County
The people of Szabolcs locality Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County
Visitors of the two museums, tourists
Main Activities
Organizing Exhibitions
The Municipal Museum of Carei operates since 1958. From 1968 is a branch of Satu Mare County Museum, located in the Karolyi castle. It is an architectural monument in the center of Carei. The permanent exhibition of the Museum covered 10 rooms located on the first floor of the castle, including two exhibition modules: archeology and natural sciences. In 2008, Carei Town Hall in partnership with Ardud Town Hall initiated a project entitled "The Circuit of Medieval Fairs in Northern Transylvania - Karoyi Castle of Carei, Karolyi Castle (fortress) of Ardud, which aimed at restoring the most significant monuments of the two localities. With the start of restoration work on the castle in Carefree, the permanent exhibition was ceased and the institutions that operate here, including the museum, were moved to another location during restoration.
Along with the restoration of the monument-castle, the Satu Mare County Museum, in partnership with Josa Andras Museum of Nyiregyhaza (Hungary) initiated the project: 'Castellum - Organizing interactive exhibitions in Carei Castle and Szabolcs mansion and promoting them in the context of cross-border tourism' in order to reorganize the permanent exhibition in the castle of Carei. The new exhibition aims to be a modern one, based on a concept that encompasses the most significant needs and constraints of the local community, but also a long term vision for tourism development in Carei. The exhibition will consist of two distinct parts: re-arranging the historic interiors, which have been allocated 10 rooms on the first floor of the building and the thematic exhibition which focuses on local history, and will cover three rooms and the hall located on the ground floor of the castle.
For the permanent ground floor exhibition are suggested the following exhibition topics: the history of the town Carei, traditional crafts, ecclesiastical history and archaeological remains discovered in Carei area. The selection of themes is based primarily on the need expressed by the local community to have a museum focused on the local specific. For this reason, the exhibition should include the most important regional aspects, to be able to express and suggest the features of this region, integrated into a broader framework of development and historical influences.
The most important part of the project is the organization of an interactive exhibition in ten rooms on the first floor of the castle, which presents reconstructions of historical interiors that recall the historical atmosphere of the castle. To realize these installations a specialized firm was co-opted, which provided the antique furniture of the rooms, realized the coating of the walls and equipped the rooms with the necessary accessories. The room themes are the follows: Room I - Library, Room II - Hall, Room III - Entertainment and games room, Room IV - Ballroom, Room V - Promoter, Room VI - Living-room, VII - Budoir, Room VIII - Bedroom, Room IX - Promoter and bathroom, Room X - Music hall.
The project team realized the exhibition concepts and prepared the tasks for the public procurement procedures. Illustrative materials, explanatory texts and the material for the audio-visual guide was developed, too. The exhibitions arrangement included interior designs; realization and mounting of panels, showcases and exhibition plants, implementation of the audio guide and IT equipment, installing software services for the virtual tour and the IT equipment, installing security systems and fire monitoring.
Dissemination activities and tourism advertisement
The project will implement dissemination activities and advertisement of exhibitions and other patrimonial values of the two towns through various means, realized within the project: website, brochure, multimedia DVD. The web page will show the exhibitions, the history and cultural objectives of the two towns and the surrounding areas. The DVDs will be made in several languages and will present a virtual tour of the two exhibitions. A multilingual printed booklet will promote the cultural tourism of this region. In this sense, they will contain presentations of the two building-monuments and exhibitions along with other important architectural monuments on the imaginary tourist route between the two cities. The opening of the two exhibitions will be linked to the launch of advertisement materials; the event will organized by inviting media representatives, local authorities, civic organizations and tourist information offices.
Results:
- Exhibitions in the Karolyi Castle, Carei
- Exhibitions in the Mudranyi mansion, Szabolcs
- Audio-video guide
- Multilingual website
- Virtual Tour and DVD
- Booklet advertising cultural tourism
