VIDEOS: King Charles III visits a small Transylvanian village populated by Hungarians every year
Zalánpatak (Valea Zălanuluihad) is a small village in Transylvania, Central Romania. According to the 2011 census in Romania, 134 out of the 139 locals were Hungarians. Charles III, who became the monarch of the United Kingdom yesterday, regularly visits this tiny little village. Although it is a question whether he would preserve that habit of his as a ruler. Below, you may read why he travels every year to Zalánpatak.
King Charles III has always been a regular guest in one of Zalánpatak’s houses. He visited it every year when the pandemic did not baulk his travel. He was there this May for the last time, touring the surrounding fields and walking around the village. We gave a detailed report about that visit in THIS article.
“After three years, I am delighted to be back in this wonderful region,” he said to reporters swarming the village after his arrival.
The Telegraph, a British newspaper, interviewed Count Tibor Kálnoky, a resident, who regularly welcomes Charles about the new king’s regular visits. The count said that Zalánpatak was founded in the 1600s as glass manufacture where experts came from Bavaria. Today, it has only 150 inhabitants. He added that Charles usually comes once a year and stays for a week. When he is not there, his place is open to guests.
“We are open all year long. Every season is wonderful”. In spring, “we have the fantastic flower meadows. And in winter, we have heavy snow, and we have snowshoes. You can go and track wild animals. In the autumn, you have the incredible foliage in yellow, red and green and brown …, so every season is special out here”, Count Kálnoky said about the favourite Hungarian-populated village of the new king.
The house Charles owns in the village once belonged to the settlements administrator. It is a bit more prominent than the others because it is on the hill, overseeing Zalánpatak. But in other ways, it is quite simple, the count explained.
Kálnoky is distantly related to the British royal family. Therefore, he was invited to the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William.
You may watch The Telegraph’s report below:
“This is the last corner of Europe where you see true sustainability and complete resilience”, Charles said in an interview about Transylvania. Locals of Zalánpatak say that Charles revived the village after he bought a house there. “I feel that he likes us and our village. We are very proud”, a local woman explained.
Here you can listen to King Charles’s favourite Hungarian song from 1:50:
Here is a video of his estate:
He bought another estate in Szászfehéregyháza, a nearby village, in 2018 (that is the blue house on our featured image). Hvg.hu wrote that he has never taken his wife with him. But Prince Harry already accompanied him on one of his trips to Transylvania.
Finally, here is a video of his visit in Csernáton:
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Source: hvg.hu, YouTube, DNH