Remember - Curtea Veche
Curtea Veche, or Curtea Domneasca (Old Princely Court) displays now the ruins of the Old Voivodal Palace, hidden behind a tall building of appartments. It is quite hard to spot and the unwary passer-by pays little attention to it while strolling on the street behind Manuc's Inn (Hanul lui Manuc). Nobody wonders about its story anylonger and about what used to be within the walls that barely remind of its original appearance.The shy attempt to restore some of the place and turn it ito a museum was not too successful, and wat it offers now might be interesting only for those with a passion for history or architecture.
It all started with a keep and a small fortress built at mid 14th century, which was destroyed in a fire.
Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) continued the development of the place, and built in the same place in 1459 the Citadel of Bucharest, which was to become, although partially destroyed during a siege at the end of 15th c., the future Princely Court.
It was first mentioned in a document issued in September 20th 1459 by the Chancellery of Vlad Tepes. The walls were made of river pebbles, which is maybe why it used to be called Citadel Dambovita (also after the river that crosses the capital). In the meanwhile the restaurations made by various voivodes and rulers consolidated the building with larger stones and bricks.
The inner yard from the time of Tepes dissapeared because the cellar and basement were enlarged. The citadel suffered many changes, with every new ruler - Laiota Basarab, Mircea Ciobanu or Radu de la Afumati.
Voivode Mircea Ciobanu turned it from a small stronghold into a nicely decorated voivodal castle. Patrascu cel Bun added a mansion, which is now under one of the buildings around it, in the Northern part.
Upon his coronation, Matei Basarab found a Voivodal Palace in ruins after wars and sieges. He partially restored it and the process was continued by Grigore Ghica.
The main restoration took place during Cantacuzino, who insisted upon interior decorations and on the esthetic aspect. He built more facilities around it, including the armory, adorned with big golden stars, and the rooms were decorated in the oriental fashion of the time, with big solid wooden doors with mother-of-pearl inlays.
The most important period in the history of the palace was during the reign of Brancoveanu, who rebuilt the parts that had been destroyed, and further developped the place. The palace became an elegant and imposing place, with gardens and alleys which lead down to Dambovita river, with a 300 sqm thronehall, ballrooms and meeting rooms for the statesmen of the times.
Lord William Paget describes the building around year 1700 as being "great and lovely, much more beautiful than the buildings which are the pride of the neighboring barbarian Turks".
Phanariot reigns have not been useful for the court. Besides having been affected by wars and fires, the palace was degraded irremediably due to the lack of interest of those in charge with it. The beautiful ornaments from the time of Brancoveanu were replaced with mere polished stones.
In 1798 Constantin Hangherli sells the land on where the palace had been built, and enter havoc - chaotic building and tearing down, workers found a good area for building huses and workshops. It is a known fact that Hangherli was very fond of parties and he had turned the palace into a partying ground for him, his faithful boyars and the prostitutes of the time.
After the big 1847 fire all that is left of the court is church Buna Vestire (the Annunciation). Of the hundred chambers of the royal family, of the servants, soldiers, administrative staff, all that was left were a few walls and Hanul lui Manuc, which was also a part of the Court until the 18th century.
Unlike other cities, where old royal residences have been carefully preserved and restored, in Bucharest it is hard to imagine, using only books or the internet, how was the place from where the voivodes used to run the country. It is a pity, because the place is promising.
For photos and sources, we thank Cristina Nicolaescu - student at the Arhitecture Institute.
