A royal castle was built.

The castle was first mentioned, when King Andrew II of Hungary confiscated the estate from Kacsics Simon guilty of the assassination of Queen Gertrude and donated it to Dénes of the Tomaj clan, Master of the Treasury.

The castle was probably destroyed during the Mongol invasion.

The settlement was owned by the Losonczi family, the descendants of the Tomaj clan. It started to prosper again, but no mention was made of a functioning castle.

The Losonczi Dezsőfi (Bánffy) noble family built a new castle, which can be seen today. The stones of the early medieval castle were used for the construction.

King Matthias of Hungary extended the tax of the royal treasury (tributum fisci regalis) and the Crown’s customs (vectigal coronae) to Transylvania as well. An uprising broke out and they wanted to put vajda Szentgyörgyi János of Transylvania on the throne. King Matthias quickly marched into Transylvania with his army, and the conspirators surrendered without any resistance. Szentgyörgyi pleaded for mercy and was pardoned, but was removed from his position.

The Dezsőfi family took part in the Transylvanian conspiracy against King Matthias of Hungary caused by the new tax policy of the king. The king punished them by confiscating this estate. Soon the king gave it to one of his relatives living in Hunyad County Ongor János from Nádasd, a knight who served in his court.

The Ongor family become extinct in the male line, Szobi Mihály from Nógrád became the owner of the estate. The Losonczi Dezsőfi family tried to take the estate back, but the owner's patron and son-in-law Werbőczy István, who was also Palatine of Hungary (nádorsipán) for a short time, helped him protect his property. Tradition has it, that Werbőczy István wrote the Tripartitum here, which became the most important and influential collection of Hungarian customary law for more than three centuries. It highlighted the equality of the nobility and expressed its rights and privileges over the serfs. Contemporary sources refute this by stating that the Tripartitum was written in Dobronya Castle in Zólyom County.

Szobi Mihály died, King John I of Hungary donated all his estates to Werbőczy István. Later the jurist had to pawn Vécs to Kendy Ferenc for 6,000 forints, since his money was depleted by the missions he was entrusted with to the court of the sultan in Istanbul.

The castle, which was a noble residence, went over significant constructions. The nobility united against Gritti, Governor of Hungary, thanks to Kendy Ferenc. Gritti was an unscrupulous Venetian fortune seeker and the minion of the Sultan, who was finally captured and executed in the town of Medgyes.

The child John Sigismund's guardian, George Martinuzzi, with Castaldo's imperial army, forced Queen Isabella to surrender the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (including Transylvania) to King Ferdinand I. Isabella left for Poland with her child, the heir to the throne. The Turks then launched a punitive campaign against Hungary.

After the widow Queen Isabella was forced to resign from the throne of Hungary and Transylvania on behalf of his child son John II, King Ferdinand appointed Dobó István, the hero of Eger Castle, vajda of Transylvania together with Kendy Ferenc.

According to an inscription, the Renaissance transformation of the building was completed at this time.

The Estates of Transylvania, dissatisfied with Habsburg rule, recalled Queen Isabella to the throne, to which the Sultan gave his consent. On her return, she regained control of eastern Hungary.

Kendy Ferenc, his brother and Bebek Ferenc were murdered in Gyulafehérvár by order of Queen Isabella, because they were conspiring against the Queen, who returned to Transylvania. The estate was soon given to Hagymássy Kristóf, and after his death, Prince Báthory Zsigmond of Transylvania acquired it. He gave it to his uncle Bocskai István of Kismarja.

Prince Bethlen Gábor of Transylvania owned the estate, then Prince Rákóczi György I of Transylvania took it into his possession.

According to the will of his deceased father, the freshly elected Prince Rákóczi György II of Transylvania donated the estate consisting of five villages to Kemény János, who was an excellent commander favoured by the Prince. The Kemény family owned it in the following centuries.

Prince Rákóczi György II of Transylvania launched a campaign for the crown of Poland in alliance with Carl X Gustaf of Sweden. His aim was to unite the Hungarian-Polish-Wallachian forces against the Turks. The campaign started successfully with the prince taking Kraków and Warsawa, but then the King of Sweden abandoned him. The vengeful Poles invaded northern Transylvania, burning defenceless villages, destroying churches and castles. Soon the punitive campaign of Turkish and Tatar armies devastated Transylvania, as the prince launched his Polish campaign against the Sultan's will.

The Tartars ravaged and plundered throughout Transylvania and Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed captured Jenő Castle. The Estates of Transylvania sent Barcsay Ákos to the camp of the grand vizier to beg for mercy. In return, the Grand Vizier demanded that the annual tax be raised from 15 to 40 thousand forints (gold coins) and that Lugos and Karansebes be ceded. This was the price for the Turks to leave Transylvania. The grand vizier appointed Barcsay prince on 14 September.

Prince Rákóczi György II returned to Transylvania and forced Barcsay Ákos to retreat to Szeben and besieged him.

In the battle of Sászfenes, Pasha Shejdi Ahmed of Buda defeated Rákóczi György II, who lost his life. The Tatar armies invaded Transylvania for the second time.

Kemény János, the former commander of Rákóczi György II, defeated the army of Gáspár, the brother of Prince Barcsay András, at Örményes. Barcsay Gáspár fell in the battle. Then, on 31 December, Barcsay Ákos renounced the throne. In 1661 Kemény János had Barcsay Ákos captured and murdered.

The army of Pasha Seydi Ahmed of Buda marched into Transylvania, after the country assembly held in Beszterce on 23 April declared the independence of Transylvania from the Ottoman Empire and placed the country under the protection of Emperor Leopold I. On 14 September, Pasha Ali forced the country assembly to elect Apafi Mihály Prince of Transylvania in Marosvásárhely.

The deposed prince Kemény János, having been abandoned by his imperial allies, was defeated by the Turks at Nagyszőlős (near Segesvár), where he fell.

After Kemény János fell in the battle, the enemy plundered his estate in Vécs.

Soldiers plundered the building during the Hungarian War of Independence led by Rákóczi Ferenc II. The returning owners had the building restored, which was half in ruins. The second floor was also added at this time.

The castle was remodelled by Kemény János and his wife. It gained its present form at this time based on the plans of Möller István, but it maintained its layout, which is typical among Renaissance castles. The regular square shape two-storey building had two large defensive towers on the western corners and two smaller ones on the eastern corners.

The owner and famous writer Kemény János invited Transylvanian artists to stay in the castle, which served as a comfortable accommodation for them. The Transylvanian Helikon Association (Erdélyi Helikon) was established here, which has achieved significant results in the cultivation of Hungarian-language literature, which had been relegated to minority status.

The famous architect Kós Károly designed the Helikon Table, which can be found in the garden. It was gifted to Kemény János by Makkai Sándor on behalf of the writers of the literary journal Erdélyi Helikon. It commemorates Kuncz Aladár. The grave of the Kemény family is next to it. The grave of the writer Count Wass Albert of Cege (1908-1998) is also nearby.

The building was only slightly damaged in the war, but since the aristocratic family fled from the approaching Soviet horde, the locals looted everything from the lavishly furnished castle.

It was turned into a home for mentally ill children. The graves of several members of the Kemény family can be visited in the park, which is open to visitors.

The castle was renovated according to the plans of Keresztes Gyula.

The Kemény family recovered the building.