Daily Picture 25-Feb-10: County Hospital Building in Art Nouveau style

The once magnificent Art Nouveau and c19th rococo style Buzau county hospital building (named "I.C. Bratianu" after the prime-minister of that period ) in Eastern Romania, inaugurated in 1896. (©Valentin Mandache)

The beautiful edifice in the photograph above lays now empty in an extremely deteriorated state, with a near collapsing structure. Although the building it is still impressing and is also an essential part of Buzau city and county heritage, it is just ignored by the  public and authorities alike, which seem more interested in putting in place characterless and badly designed modern constructions, perceived as more prestigious. Perhaps that is the reason why the old hospital is left to fall apart, as the only legal means to secure a demolition permit for listed buildings…

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

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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating 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.

Daily Picture 14-Feb-10: Spa Town Development Boom in Victorian Era Romania

Sarata-Monteoru spa town in South East Romania, developed by the great Monteoru aristocratic-commercial family in the 1880 - '90s, part of the boom period of spa town developments in late Victorian era Romania. (old postcard Valentin Mandache collection)

Endowed with a geographically diverse territory and the longest sector of the Carpathian Mountains (over 1,000 km length of alpine geology mountain chains), Romania is very propitious for the development of spa towns around the innumerable hot and mineral springs, among stunning natural scenery. The Roman Empire was the first to establish such spas on what is now the Romanian territory (ie the Herculane Spa town in SW Romania) and the occasion occurred again in the Victorian era Romania, 17 centuries later, in a time of peace and prosperity not encountered by this region since the Roman conquest. The old postcard above shows an 1890s image of the pumps’ hall in Sarata-Monteoru spa town in Buzau county, SE Romania, one of the many such towns that sprang up in that era of prosperity. The architecture of these towns was that of similar establishments in Central Europe or France and Belgium. Many of these buildings and facilities still survive today, albeit in a very run down state or even on the verge of demolition, constituting extraordinary potential renovation projects for those willing to undertake such an enterprise. Unfortunately, these old quaint buildings, are also eyed by rapacious and ignorant local property developers.

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

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

If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating 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.

Daily Picture 1-Feb-10: Ottoman Arches in a Romanian Art Nouveau Guise

A sector of the Art Nouveau - Ottoman arch motif colonnade that wraps around the ground level of Buzau Commune Palace (Buzau town hall), Eastern Romania. (©Valentin Mandache)

The colonnade above embellishes the Buzau Commune Palace/ Town Hall in Eastern Romania, the province of Wallachia. The paint and decoration exude an air of bright sun-drenched Mediterranean architecture, despite the local temperate latitude and the fact that I took the photograph on a rainy and at times foggy winter day. The palace is probably the largest Art Nouveau – Neo-Romanian fusion style building in Romania, the master-work of architect Alexandru Savulescu, completed in 1903. The colonnade uses an Ottoman Balkan arch type encountered at church and mosque buildings in the region, making a superb “Cordoba cathedral”-like colonnade impression. The column capital is formed from a composition of vine leaves, an alusion to the wine production, one of the main industries of Buzau county. Ottoman arches combined with a local industry symbol represent a subtle and well crafted local identity message, which highlights the talent of the architect and the vision of his patrons in the then fin de siècle Romania.

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

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

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

If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating 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.