Radio România Internațional

Tag: Oana Marinache

  • Descoperirea patrimoniului imobil din provincie

    Descoperirea patrimoniului imobil din provincie

    De mai mulți ani Asociația Istoria Artei îi învită pe
    bucureșteni să descopere sau să redescopere trecutul orașului lor prin tururi
    ghidate în cartierele istorice, pline de clădiri de patrimoniu. În timpul
    acestor plimbări, participanții la tururi nu admiră doar palatele sau vilele
    care dau frumusețea și specificul Bucureștiului, dar află informații și despre
    arhitecții lor. Iar recent, vizitarea se orientează și spre alte orașe pentru a
    se descoperi și patrimoniul acestora.

    Oana Marinache, directoarea Asociației
    Istoria Artei: Mai ales în ultimii trei ani în care am avut
    de îndurat restricțiile pandemiei, s-a simțit o mare nevoie de a ieși puțin din
    tipicul tururilor ghidate din București, așa că organizăm cel puțin o dată pe
    lună o excursie în apropiere. Ne-am orientat în general către centre urbane
    pline de exemple de arhitectură veche. Adică pe noi ne interesează foarte mult
    să înțelegem și modul de locuire, dar și activitatea arhitecților, de pildă,
    din Câmpulung. Cu alte ocazii ne-am îndreptat atenția și către Buzău, și către
    Focșani, către Râmnicu Sărat. Am avut un alt parcurs dedicat conacelor, deci
    reședințelor extraurbane ale elitelor noastre de la sfârșitul secolului XIX și
    începutul secolului al XX-lea. Am fost în vara aceasta pe urmele conacelor din
    județul Argeș, din județul Prahova, așa că considerăm că acesta e o altă modalitate
    de petrecere a timpului liber prin care ne încărcăm cultural cu foarte multe
    informații.


    Deocamdată tururile se
    concentrează în perimetrul fostul regat – adică în provinciile istorice Țara
    Românească și Moldova din zona centrală și de sud-est, ajungând și în Dobrogea,
    la Constanța.

    Oana Marinache: La Focșani am avut sprijinul unor
    cercetători, unor istorici locali, familia Nechita, care pune în valoare, tot
    prin cercetarea de arhivă, patrimoniul focșănean. Noi de obicei mergem către
    Sinaia. De ce? Am avut multe tururi ghidate despre arhitectura prahoveană din
    Sinaia și acuma încercăm să spargem tiparele obișnuite și să descoperim și
    patrimoniul din Bușteni. În Câmpulung, ne-am bucurat de o vizită ghidată și de
    domnul director al școlii normale de altădată. Este o clădire publică, un
    monument de arhitectură și are o însemnătate foarte mare pentru istoria
    învățământului românesc. Acest colegiu sau școală normală Carol I a fost
    fondat cu foarte mult timp în urmă, în 1867, dar nu a avut un sediu propriu ani
    întregi. Iar la sfârșitul secolului al XIX-lea decidenții noștri, inclusiv
    regele Carol I, au hotărât să mute instituția din București la Câmpulung Muscel
    și pentru această unitate școlară să ridice un complex întreg. Deci, în afară
    de clădirea principală pentru clase, există clădiri de dependințe, pentru a-i
    pregăti pe viitorii institutori și din punct de vedere practic. Adică a fost
    creată, de fapt, o fermă model unde ei să-și facă ucenicia și să învețe și îndeletniciri
    precum îngrijirea animalelor sau să se familiarizeze cu alte meserii. Am fost
    uimiți de toate lucrurile care s-au realizat acolo și mai ales de eforturile
    depuse în ultima perioadă când au fost accesate atât fonduri de la Banca
    Mondială, cât și fonduri europene pentru a pune în valoare acest monument de
    istorie a arhitecturii românești creat de Ion Socolescu.


    Odată cu trecerea
    timpului numărul participanților la tururi a crescut, iar pentru unele din ele
    sosesc chiar persoane din alte orașe, ceea ce demonstrează un interes crescut
    pentru patrimoniul național, nu doar pentru cel local.




  • Arhitectul Cristofi Cerchez

    Arhitectul Cristofi Cerchez

    Iniţiat spre sfârşitul secolului al XIX-lea de către
    arhitectul Ion Mincu, stitul arhitectural neoromânesc sau naţional îmbina
    elemente de arhitectură ţărănească şi brâncovenească într-o combinaţie nouă
    care a fost rapid adoptată şi adaptată de mare a arhitecţilor care au creat la
    începutul secolului XX. Bucureştiul, în special, dar şi multe alte oraşe din
    fostul principat al Ţării Româneşti, stau şi azi mărturie despre modul în care
    s-a extins stilul naţional. Iar unul dintre exponenţii principali a fost
    arhitectul Cristofi Cerchez a cărui biografie ne-o detaliază acum Oana
    Marinache, istoric de artă.

    Cristofi Cerchez, pe numele lui din actele
    de stare civilă se numea Hristea, s-a născut în iulie 1872 într-o familie
    extrem de numeroasă. Se pare că au fost 18 copii, dar, din păcate, bolile și
    condițiile grele de viață din secolul al XIX lea au curmat viața multor membri
    ai familiei şi practic ajung la maturitate trei băieți și trei fete. Totuși, a
    fost o familie cu anumite posibilități financiare. Tatăl lor era un
    administrator al moșiilor marilor boieri și au călătorit foarte mult.

    Practic
    Cristofi a avut posibilitatea încă din adolescență de a se inspira din orașele
    vizitate, din locurile cu arhitectură vernaculară. El urmează inițial Şcoala de
    șosele și poduri din țara noastră care, la momentul respectiv, era de altfel
    singura școală superioară de învățământ tehnic. Mai târziu a beneficiat de o
    bursă privată din partea văduvei doctorului chirurg Turnescu și pleacă la
    Milano.

    Acolo are șansa să urmeze Politehnica, secția de arhitectură civilă, să
    se specializeze. Se pregătește și din punct de vedere artistic, astfel încât
    acolo, la Milano, se găsesc toate premisele formării sale și a activității de
    mai târziu. A trecut printr-un parcurs educaţional cu totul diferit de cel al
    colegilor săi. Marea majoritate a tinerilor români mergeau la Paris la Şcoala
    de Belle Arte, dar Cerchez, de la început a fost iinfluențat de arhitectul Ion
    Mincu, părintele stilului neoromânesc. Chiar dacă era o diferență de 20 de ani
    între ei, Cristofi Cerchez urmărește construcția Şcolii Centrale de Fete din
    Bucureşti și primele sale lucrări, primele creații proprii sunt în stil
    neoromânesc, foarte apropriat de al lui Mincu.



    Astăzi, Cristofi Cerchez e considerat unul dintre
    principalii exponenți ai stilului naţional în oraşele de provincie, el dând
    tonul arhitecturii specifice din târgurile de secol XIX dominate de pătura de
    mijloc a comercianţilor sau a negustorilor. Unii dintre aceştia au fost
    clienţii lui Cerchez, iar casele lor rezistă şi azi, după cum aflăm de la Oana
    Marinache, istoric de artă.

    Din punct de vedere profesional Cristofi Cerchez
    se remarcă întâi în orașele pe unde studiase sau pe unde lucrase: în Câmpulung
    Muscel, în Alexandria şi în Constanța unde pentru un interval de timp este
    activ în serviciul tehnic al Primăriei Constanței. Abia către 1904-1905 este
    prezent la București cu una dintre cele mai importante comenzi din cariera lui
    și una dintre cele mai cunoscute vile bucureștene: cea a doctorului Nicolae
    Minovici sau Vila cu clopoței de la șosea.

    Este o comandă care, de fapt, îi va
    deschide posibilitatea să participe mai târziu în mod constant la programul de
    arhitectură sanitar. Lui Cerchez îi datorăm sediul Societății de Salvare care
    s-a aflat pe cheiul Dâmboviței, din păcate o clădire care a fost bombardată în
    al Doilea Război Mondial și nu o mai avem astăzi în picioare. De asemenea, el a
    proiectat și clădiri ale laboratoarelor Institutului de Medicină Legală unde
    frații Minovici erau foarte activi în calitate de directori. Sunt și alte
    clădiri. Aș aminti, de exemplu, Maternitatea Polizu din Bucureşti, cunoscută
    marii majorități a publicului bucureștean, şi pe care am putea să o integrăm
    tot în acest program de arhitectură spitalicească.



    În zona muntoasă şi subcarpatică,
    arhitectul Cerchez şi-a pus, de asemenea, amprenta. Oana Marinache.

    În Vălenii de Munte, Cristofi Cerchez este activ spre finalul carierei
    sale. Imediat după marele cutremur din 1940, este implicat în restaurarea unor
    edificii religioase, a bisericilor afectate de cutremur, dar, de asemenea, este
    chemat să realizeze și sediul Băncii Comerțului din Văleni și casa directorului
    de acolo. Asta se întâmpat în perioada 1941-1942.Practic activitatea sa se
    întinde de la sfârșitul secolului al XIX-lea până către 1945. (…) Ultimii zece
    ani din viață nu pare să fi lucrat, s-a retras din breaslă și a avut de îndurat
    destul de multe neplăceri și financiare, pierzându-şi proprietățile pe fondul
    naționalizării. Dar, totuși, lasă în urmă o carieră de de mai bine de 45 de
    ani.


    Arhitectul Cristofi Cerchez a murit
    acum 67 de ani, pe 15 ianuarie 1955.


  • 10 ans de visites guidées dans Bucarest

    10 ans de visites guidées dans Bucarest

    Fin 2020, « L’Association pour l’histoire de l’art » – une ONG – comptait déjà vingt années d’activité consacrée, pour l’essentiel, au patrimoine de la ville de Bucarest. En partant du constat que les Bucarestois méconnaissent l’histoire de leur ville, l’association s’est proposé de combler cette lacune. Pour ce faire, elle a organisé des visites guidées et des conférences et publié des livres présentant au grand public l’architecture de la capitale roumaine et son évolution dans le temps. Ces activités s’adressent aussi bien aux adultes qu’aux jeunes, voire même aux enfants.

    Cela fait maintenant dix ans que l’association organise des ateliers d’histoire de l’art à l’intention des petits. L’idée des visites guidées est née de la curiosité des parents qui accompagnaient les petits aux ateliers et qui ont manifesté leur intérêt pour l’histoire et le patrimoine de la capitale, a précisé notre interlocutrice, Oana Marinache, directrice de l’Association d’histoire de l’art : « Il y a 8 ou 9 ans, nos visites guidées dans Bucarest n’étaient pas aussi demandées ou populaires. Par contre, ces dernières années, les demandes ont été si nombreuses que l’on a eu du mal à les satisfaire toutes. Certes, en 2020, il y a eu des contraintes liées au nombre de participants, mais la curiosité incite le public à découvrir de nouveaux endroits et à écouter de nouvelles histoires. En plus, on a affaire à un public plus éduqué, grâce à la participation à différents événements organisés par d’autres associations. Les gens veulent découvrir de nouvelles rues, voir les intérieurs des maisons historiques. Nous essayons de répondre à ces demandes en proposant des projets culturels ou éditoriaux ou en créant des événements inédits dans la mesure du possible. Nous nous adressons surtout au public bucarestois. Nous avons pourtant remarqué, surtout lors des excursions d’une journée ou des événements organisés ces dernières années dans des villes comme Sinaia ou Constanța, la présence de participants autres que les Bucarestois. Nous nous réjouissons donc de voir se répandre le désir de connaître le patrimoine. »

    Au fil des années, l’Association pour l’histoire de l’art a bénéficié du soutien financier et logistique de plusieurs institutions publiques et privées. Elle a diversifié son activité, notamment après la création de la maison d’édition Istoria artei. C’est là que sont parues les monographies de quelques architectes importants. Celles-ci ont servi de point de départ pour de nombreuses conférences consacrées à des sujets liés au patrimoine de Bucarest et non seulement. Oana Marinache : « La plupart des travaux que nous avons publiés au cours des 8 dernières années sont le fruit des recherches dans les fonds d’archives sur des architectes remarquables. On en est déjà à la 7e monographie. La grande majorité des personnalités auxquelles elles sont consacrées sont des architectes étrangers. Notre recherche, qui commence par la fin du 19e siècle, est arrivée à la période de l’entre-deux-guerres. Elle s’est matérialisée en plusieurs portraits d’architectes nés en Roumanie, mais issus de familles internationales. Reste encore à découvrir les cas particuliers, les destins impressionnants et susceptibles d’offrir des modèles à suivre même de nos jours. En plus de la collection éditoriale et des visites guidées, je mentionnerais la série de conférences que nous avons organisées au Musée de la ville de Bucarest, dans différentes galeries ou dans des centres culturels. »

    Entre temps, un autre projet de l’association a vu le jour. Il s’agit de la revue Arhitur, qui invite le lecteur à découvrir les endroits où l’emmèneraient les visites guidées.

  • Personalities of the Great War

    Personalities of the Great War

    In August 1916, after two years of neutrality,
    Romania entered WWI on the side of the Entente. After a period of heavy
    fighting and sacrifices, not to mention Bucharest’s occupation by the German
    army, Romania got out of the world war stronger and united, in 1918. The
    politicians and military of those troubled times have become national heroes,
    leaving behind a blazing trail, which is now being documented, with a special
    mention of the places and towns that had a special significance in their lives.
    A project titled Personalities of WWI and their Bucharest-based dwellings has
    recently been initiated by the Arts History Association. Some of their homes,
    more or less luxurious villas, have stood the test of time and can now be seen
    in the historical areas of the capital city. One
    of them is situated in a district which was laid out in the early 20th
    Century and called the Ioanid Parcelling Out, after the name of the garden
    stretching on a plot of land which was later parcelled out and put up for sale.
    Many beautiful villas were built there, and one of them belonged to Vintilă
    Brătianu, the then mayor of the capital and the younger brother of Liberal
    Ionel Brătianu, Prime Minister and one of the founding fathers of Greater
    Romania.

    Oana Marinache, a member of the Arts History Association is crayoning
    the biography of Vintilă
    Brătianu, the mayor of Bucharest when the Ioanid Garden was parcelled out:

    He
    endorsed the parcelling out of the Ioanid Garden in 1909, andafter he
    completed his mandate, he reserved for himself the biggest plot of land in the
    area. The vegetal area, the garden or the district’s park were not adjacent to
    his property, but Vintilă chose for himself the plot of land at no.25. It was a
    matter of fate that after Ionel Brătianu passed away in 1927, his younger
    brother, Vintilă, took over the party presidency. In his turn, Vintila, passed
    away in 1930. But before leading the party, between 1907 and 1910, he had been
    the mayor of Bucharest.


    The house built there in Neo-Romanain style by the
    prominent architect Petre Antonescu can still be admired today, on Aurel Vlaicu
    Street. Oana Marinache has more:


    We have a mixture of
    influences and styles. For instance the massive volume of the house is
    reminiscent of Oltenia’s cule, a sort of semi-fortified buildings, there is
    also a gate created under the influence of the vernacular architecture typical
    to the sub-Carpathian region. The architectural style specific to monasteries,
    particularly the interior of monasteries in Wallachia, has strongly influenced
    the building. The construction was soon to become emblematic for early 20th
    Century architecture. As a rule, great political personalities convey a message
    to the people, not only through the declarations they make, the political
    activities they carry out, but also through the lifestyle they embrace. Later
    on, after the Great Union, a Transylvanian stove was symbolically built in all
    these homes belonging to the personalities of the time. Thus, they tried to
    also showcase elements belonging to the province that many Romanians had been
    fighting for, some of them paying the ultimate sacrifice for it. It’s a stove
    with tiles with black or green drawings against a light background. All boyar mansions
    or houses owned by politicians have this type of stove, with motifs that are
    also political symbols.


    In an office in that house, a secret understanding was
    reached with the Entente on August 4th, 1916, a deal that would
    subsequently be approved by the Crown Council and which led Romania to war. And
    one of those who distinguished themselves during the war was General Henri
    Cihoski, a participant in the battle of Marasesti and a deputy with the General
    Staff. In December 1920 he became in charge of reorganizing the army in
    Transylvania, recently united with Romania, and in 1921 he was assigned the
    task to supervise the coronation of King Ferdinand, and also the construction
    of the union cathedral in Alba Iulia. His house in Bucharest, designed by Alexandru
    Savulescu and built in the modernist style, was finished in 1934 and it’s still
    standing in an area next to Ioanid Park, known as the Dumbrava Rosie plot. It
    was there that, in the early 1930s, king Carol II rewarded the officers that
    had distinguished themselves during the war, by giving them land. One of them
    was Henri Cihoski. From that house, where he was living with his family,
    Cihoski was arrested in May 1950 by the Communists. He died 11 years later, in
    Sighet prison. None of the officers that had taken part in WWI had a better
    fate. General Ioan Dragalina, a celebrated hero, died in 1916, after defeating
    Romania’s western border as commander of the 1st Infantry Division,
    in Drobeta Turnu Severin. Unfortunately, he died on October 24th, of
    a septicaemia caused by a shoulder injury.

    Here is Oana Marinache once more:


    On October 12th, 1916, he left
    by car, probably accompanied by another person, besides the driver, on a
    surveillance mission. They got caught in a burst fire and attacked by the
    Austrian-Hungarian army. Although wounded, he managed to get out alive and was
    taken to a hospital in Craiova, then to Bucharest, at king’s orders.
    Unfortunately, railway traffic was extremely heavy, the journal took too long
    and he developed septicaemia. He died on October 24th, in terrible
    pain.


    In the inter-war period, in honour of their father,
    the general’s children got land in ownership, in the
    Bonaparte plot, later renamed Park Ferdinand I. The plot is today home to one
    of the most elegant residential areas in the north of Bucharest.

  • Filipescu Estate

    Filipescu Estate

    Taking
    the northern exit from Bucharest, following one of the oldest and most
    important boulevards, Victory Road, overpassing the current headquarters of the
    Romanian Government, one arrives at the junction of another two large main
    roadways: Kiseleff Road and the Aviators Boulevard. In the 19th
    century, the two merged into one of the capital city’s peripheries, known as
    The Road. It was an ideal place for strolling, going for a picnic, a place
    where the hustle and bustle of the city room left room for large stretches of
    gardens, orchards and vineyards. Towards the end of the 19th
    century, when Bucharest was booming and the need for urban planning was growing,
    the Road itself started to change, being torn in two: one half stretched
    alongside Kiseleff Road, while the other had several names, one of them being
    Jianu Road, today’s Aviatorilor Boulevard.

    Oana Marinache, an art historian,
    told us more:

    A major step towards the urban configuration of the city was the layout of the
    former Coltea Boulevard, the segment linking Romana Square to Victory Square,
    today’s Lascar Catargiu Boulevard. This boulevard was instated during the
    mandate of Mayor Nicolae Filipescu, at the end of the 19th century
    and in early 20th century. Starting 1902 the authorities were
    already considering widening Jianu Road and creating a system of urban
    regulations, after these vast estates were expropriated, with a view to
    clearing land for the build-up of residential areas.


    Without any
    direct connection to mayor Nicolae Filipescu, Alexandru Filipescu, the nephew
    of an important and rich boyar nicknamed ‘the Fox’ would also contribute to the
    process of streamlining the Jianu Road. Here is Oana Marinache again:


    He was
    dubbed the ‘Fox’ as he was very cunning and good at negotiating his position at
    the court irrespective of the political changes of the time; he used to be so
    good at adjusting to the political context. He remained unmarried but had an
    illegitimate son whom he eventually acknowledged and named Ioan Filipescu. Ioan
    later married Eliza Bibescu, daughter of the Romanian ruler Bibescu, and had a
    son, Alexandru Filipescu, the one who was going to make the difference in the
    process of streamlining the aforementioned road. In 1912 he got the idea of
    dividing the estate he had inherited from his grandfather. In a relatively
    short period of time, this boyar who had the spirit of a real estate developer
    managed to sell about 120 plots of land each ranging between 500 and 1,000
    square meters. This initiative developed until WWI and Alexandru Filipescu died
    in 1916. He paid to fit his estate with all the needed utilities. He also gave
    Bucharest two parks, two green areas in order to contribute to the idea of a
    garden-city. He wasn’t only into property speculation but was also interested
    in improving and developing the area. He kept for himself a big plot of land
    towards the Jianu Road where he built himself a villa after architect Roger
    Bolomey’s plans. He also laid out the
    alleys behind his estate after a French pattern, bordered by various species of
    trees. He named these alleys after his ancestors and that’s why one of them is
    called Alexandru Alley.


    Prince Alexandru
    Filipescu’s villa, that can still be seen today on Aviatorilor Boulevard, is
    one of Bucharest’s architectural jewels, according to art historian Oana
    Marinache:


    The
    blueprints for the villa are signed by Roger Bolomey, a Swiss-born architect
    from the town of Piatra Neamt, where he
    worked as an architect and where signed the blueprints for some very special
    villas. Coming from the Moldavian area, the Neo-Romanian style that he adopted
    was obviously influenced by elements specific of that area, such as apparent
    brick and the turret foyers specific to the monasteries in Bucovina.


    Little by
    little, one of the city’s most beautiful residential areas developed, after the
    parceling out of the Filipescu estate. Owners bought their plots of land between 1912
    and 1913 but the construction of villas continued until the inter-war period. Owners
    were generally well-off people, such as bankers, politicians, boyars,
    industrialists and also artists. The general architectural style, although not
    rigidly regulated, was mostly Neo-Romanian, which became popular especially
    after the Union of 1918. An example in this respect is the villa that hosts the
    main office of the Romanian Cultural Institute.

    Oana Marinache: Vasile
    Mortun is the first owner and commissioner of the villa located on Alexandru
    Alley at no 38, built by architect Petre Antonescu. In the inter-war period the
    villa was bought by industrialist Nicolae Malaxa who extended it after the
    plans of architect Richard Bordenache. Also, the area started to be inhabited
    by painters and artists who wanted to live close to each other. Given that the
    architectural style of Bucharest was not strictly regulated, a wide range of
    new projects signed by important Romanian and foreign architects emerged.


    In spite of the
    destruction and change specific to the communist regime, the area has
    maintained its elegant aspect.



  • 19th century shops in Bucharest

    19th century shops in Bucharest

    A town of merchants, Bucharest has developed around a neighbourhood known today as the Historical Centre or the Old Town, an area that has been boasting up to this day numerous shops, stalls and inns offering accomodation and good food. In time a commercial type of architecture specific to a merchants’ town developed here, which can still be seen today, as some buildings have been preserved up to present.



    Art historian Oana Marinache gives us more details about this kind of shops:” We have some very deep cellars here, some dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. In time, new buildings were erected on top of these cellars. None of them is specific only to the 19th century or the second half of the 18th century. The various stages of construction works, some conducted in different periods, can be identified by studying the cellars. It is very likely that, at first, these buildings only had a basement and a ground floor, serving as shops where various produts were sold. In time, the new generations of merchants, as in Buhcarest we can speak of entire mearchant families from the 19th to the 20th century, decided they needed extra room for their business and added one or even two storeys to their buildings. The new storeys usually served as residence for the merchant family who worked downstairs or were rented out. There were also cases when the rooms upstairs served as offices for the building’s owners or for other people who rented them for the same purpose.”



    In time, especially during the quick modernization process in the second half of the 19th century, the commercial activity in Bucharest also intensified. A number of new shops were opened and the buildings started being narrower and extend horizontally either because the space was too small or because the parcels of land were divided between heirs.



    This is how things were in the Bucharest’s centre, as on its outskirts, close to the rural areas, these shops were no different from the ones specific to villages. They had the aspect of small cotages, of underground houses or low-rise houses with basements. On the outskirts of Bucharest, merchants’ houses had a porch, just like peasant houses did at the time.



    In the center, however, the artchitectural influences were diffferent. Oana Marinache: “What we actually see here dates back to the years before the Great Fire of 1847. These buildings went through some radical changes chiefly in the second half of the 19th century. After getting contact with other trade centers, mainly with German-speaking centers in Brasov, Sibiu and even Vienna, the architecture of these buildings radically changed. Gradually, some of these merchants, mainly those belonging to the middle-class, but also those in the upper classes who were mainly of Jewish descent, could afford building some sort of department stores resembling those in Paris or Vienna, shops selling a variety of products. One of those high-end shops, mostly frequented by women, was ‘Au bon gout’ as most of the local shop owners used to borrow names from the French space.



    The store was owned by Jewish traders. Ownership deeds include the name of a certain Mr. Ascher. In line with the trend of the time, he commissioned architect Filip Xenopol to design of one of the largest buildings in the old city, between the Lipscani and Stavropoleos streets, where the Chrisovelloni bank stands. Actually, the building stood up until 1925, and it was one of the largest stores in the city.”



    Bucharest inns, as famous as the stores, have disappeared in time too. Those that have survived have been drastically made over, as compared to their original architecture, as historian Oana Marinache told us: “Definitely, many people have visited the ARCUB Cultural Center, where the old Hagi Tudorache inn used to stand or the famous ‘Hanul cu Tei’. These are examples of commercial architecture from the early 19th century, although they have undergone many refurbishing and restoration works, especially in the 20th century. Also, Hanul lui Manuc (Manuc’s Inn) is still standing, probably the best known landmark of the Old Center in Bucharest, which has been restored by preserving the characteristics of early 19th century architecture.”