Fin de Siècle house in Targoviste

A beautiful Fin de Siècle house in Targoviste, southern Romania photographed in a late July 2010 afternoon against a stormy sky. (©Valentin Mandache)

***********************************************

I endeavor through this series of daily articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

Balkan Monarchs, September 2010 (via Diana Mandache’s Weblog)

This is a post first published on Diana’s blog on royal history. The first photo shows the actual four Balkan monarchs together at a royal event in Serbia this month. The photograph is evocative of the better times of stability enjoyed by this region during the reign of their predecessors, in contrast with the endemic volatility of the last seven decades of republican rule. For Romania, the monarchy has been the most beneficial form of government in this land’s history, a period of organic modernisation and integration with the advanced economies and cultures of Europe. Most of the historic architecture of the region has been developed during the reign of the Balkan monarchs. There is a second photograph in this post taken one century ago, showing the ancestors of the present kings, also gathered together, thus emphasizing even more the continuity, consistency and relevance of the royal era for this region of Europe.

This a rare historical image, the most recent gathering of the Balkan Monarchs, photograph taken on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of Crown Prince of Serbia. In the image l to r: King Simeon of Bulgaria, Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, King Michael of Romani … Read More

via Diana Mandache’s Weblog