The legacy of Balázs Orbán and the taste of Sekler Land
Mineral Water and Spa Museum in Szejkefürdő
MúzeumCafé 30.
Both the past and present of Szejkefürdő (Seiche in Romania), near Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) are closely associated with the great Sekler writer, politician and scholar, Balázs Orbán, as is the flourishing of the former local bathing establishment. Four years ago the Haáz Rezső Museum in Odorheiu Secuiesc established a special ‘branch’ here – The Sekler Land Mineral Water and Spa Museum. According to Balázs Orbán, the Szejkefürdő medicinal waters were discovered on the edge of Székelyudvarhely in the 1840s by a peasant who noticed that the salty water could cure gout. In 1866 the land was bought by Baroness Orbán of Lengyelfalva who passed it on to her son Balázs five years later. He developed Szejkefürdő into a renowned spa. There was a stone bathing pool, several warm baths, a large inn, villas and a park. Promenades were constructed and guests could play skittles and enjoy open-air concerts. A Sekler gate ‘museum’, established in the 1970s, leads to Orbán’s grave. The very first gate beside the grave was placed there in 1888 by Balázs Orbán himself, two years before his death. Later 15 gates were erected on the hillside. Apart from medicinal springs, Seiche is also noted for its mineral waters. The so-called Main or Sarolta Spring accounts for a significant amount of the local drinking water supply. Even during the town’s heyday at the end of the 19th century a start was made on transporting the somewhat bitter water to Udvarhely in characteristic three-litre clay pitchers in wagons drawn by buffalo. The Seiche Mineral Water and Spa Museum opened in spring 2008. Its exhibition focuses on the mineral waters and bathing culture of Sekler Land. The institute’s funding body is the Haáz Rezső Museum and the Odorheiu Secuiesc local authority.