The Lázár Castle was built between 1450 and 1532 in several stages. In the late 16th century, Druzsina, daughter of István Lázár married Farkas Bethlen of Iktár, and to this marriage was born the future prince of Transylvania Gabriel Bethlen. He was brought up in the castle and his upstairs room in the gate tower can still be seen unto this day. In 1631, the castle was expanded and altered into a magnificent Renaissance manor house, towers and curtain walls were also built. It became one of the important military and administrative centers of the Székely Land. On September 6, 1658, a team of Szeklers led by a student named Gábor Székely defeated the invading Tatars and Moldovans.  |
The dead were buried on a hill below the village which is called until today Tatarhill. A plaque was put up in 1908 in memory of the battle. The Szekely Land was often hit by Ottoman invasions and on one occasion, the castle was seriouly damaged. During the Hungarian war of independence of Ferenc II Rákóczi, Ferenc Lázár supported the operations of the kuruc troops. In 1707, when the imperial army marched into Transylvania, Ferenc Lázár had to flee to Csángós to Moldova. Imperial general Acton set fire to the castle and only a bastion remained intact. After the Peace of Szatmár, Ferenc Lazár pledged allegiance to the Habsburg Emperor and thus was able to keep his estates. When the castle was burned down again in 1748, the family, was not able any more to restore all parts of it, and what was restored was made partly from donations of the villagers. Finally in 1842, it was almost completely destroyed by another fire. In the 19th century, the financial status of the Lázár family started to deteriorate and only the gate tower remained suitable for habitation. After last Lázár heir, Zsigmond and his wife, left the castle in 1853, it fell even further into decay. Nowadays, much of the castle has been renovated. Renovation of the renaissance murals started in 1987 with the help of UNESCO. | 
