Szárhegy is for the first time mentioned in official documents in 1505. It is known that here it was a village for a long time  more exactly from the second part of the thirteenth century, after the tatar’s war.

The Franciscan church

One of the Lázár family’s   ancestors  coming back from Rome, having a vision he, started to built five chapels on Szárhegy mountain. In 1642, Lázár  István decided to ask the franciscan monks to take care of them. After the fire from 1749 they have built the monastery which can be seen today.

Here was burried Kájoni János, Losteiner Leonárd, Lukács Monsuét who was a well known Transylvanian missionary. Kájoni János who was a bishop, orga’s builder and a recognized religious and non religious musician, he wrote a book about the catholic religious songs, too.

Here Bethlen Gábor, the ruler spent his childhood. Since 1974 in one of the monasteries part functions an artistical camp, and its masterpieces, or works can be seen in the castle.

Lázár castle

The castle is situated at 200m. from the center of the village. It is 100m. long, 75m. wide and it is considered one of the most beautiful castles in renaissance style built in Transylvania. It was built in in the fifteenth century and during its history it was destroyed several times. Since 1967 it was rebuilt  step by step. The Lázár castle is a masterpiece of renaissance castle, one of the most attractive castles from the seventeenth century, housing very important persons. The hall with arcades has some gothic letters on it „Cristus Maria 1532”.           

The first inhabited tower was built in 1450. Three of its corner bastions are of square shape, the fourth  one has seven corners. We can get in the castle through the gothic gate situated in the northern, wall having some nishes on both sides. On the both sides of the gate we can see ornated nishes, carsed ornaments connecting the two corners’ bastions. The old walls painting can be seen even today, in fact only parts of it. Under the coat of arm on the left side of the main gate we can see mentioned 1632. It is the year when it was finished the building of the castle. Near the high walls we can see other buildings in ruin as the kitchen, store, maintenance buildings, soldiers house, fountain.

Szárhegy today can be considered the centre of general art. In the castle today we have an exhibition of art organized by the county’s art referee. The exhibition of painting called “Barátság Képzőművészeti Galéria”  can be seen in the gate bastion of the castle, it has eight big rooms and 150 paintings. In the gallery we can see what did it happen during the last ten years in art. Above the Room of Cavaliers we can see graphical works on of about 300 square meters.