Cantacuzino Castle

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English and Romanian-wikipedia

- Cantacuzino Castle is situated in Bușteni , Romania, in Zamora street. The building, whose construction works were completed in 1911, was conducted by the architect Gregory Cerchez at the request of Prince George Grigore Cantacuzino. The Castle belonged to the family Cantacuzino until nationalization of 1948, then became a sanatorium for the Ministry of Internal Affair. Now it is a museum.

- As any citizen of Bucharest trying to escape the heavy patriotic atmosphere of the city around the National Day of Romania (1st of December) we took some days off and we headed to the mountains in a cold but sunny day.

- As the main road going from Bucharest to Brasov (DN1 – National Road 1) was quite busy (as it is in any weekend or holidays), it took us more than two hours to get to the mountain area and we were already tired and looking for a nice place to stop when we reached Busteni and noticed the signs on the road’s poles inviting us to visit the Cantacuzino Castle. We followed the directions and discovered a beautiful old mansion located in the middle of a private domain on the edge of the forest.

- As we found out, the Cantacuzino Castle was erected by prince Grigore Cantacuzino, nicknamed “Nababul” (“The Mogul”) and inaugurated in 1911 (101 year ago!). It was built in neo-Romanian style in stone and brick after the plans of the Romanian architect Grigore Cerchez and it covers a total surface of 3148 sqm. The interior decorations create a strong romantic ambience. Stained glass windows, marble, brackets and ceilings with painted beams, wood, stone or wrought iron railings and bronze hardware represent a master of artistic craftsmanship. The white stone fireplaces decorated with polychrome mosaics complete the atmosphere of boyar residence.

- During the communist era, the castle served as a sanatorium and most of the original paint of the walls was covered with the green color to create the specific look of an hospital.

Several years ago, the land and the Cantacuzino Castle were bought by a group of investors who wanted to develop a luxury holiday and ski resort. Nowadays, probably because of the global economic recession, the plans have been postponed and the place is open for visitors as a museum.

We joined a small group and a nice old lady guided us through the castle giving us a lot of interesting information about the building and the old Byzantine noble family of Cantacuzino whose first member lived around 1094 (check Wikipedia page here for more info about the history of this old family).

The Cantacuzino Castle in Busteni is open for visitors every day from 10 to 18. On the main road from Bucharest to Brasov, once you are in Busteni, turn it right on Pescariei Street or Grivitei Street and then follow the signs.

- Castelul Cantacuzino din Bușteni este situat în cartierul Zamora, pe strada cu același nume. Clădirea castelului, ale cărei lucrări de construcție au fost finalizate în 1911, a fost realizată de arhitectul Grigore Cerchez la cererea prințului Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino.

Clădirea a aparținut familiei Cantacuzino până la naționalizarea din 1948, devenind apoi un sanatoriu al Ministerului de Interne. Ea adăpostește astăzi un muzeu.

- Ansamblul castelului este format din 4 corpuri. Pavilionul central are o suprafață la sol de 1.200,30 m2 și 3.148,02 m2 în total (demisol, parter și etaj) și este construit dintr-o fundație de beton, pereți de piatră cioplită și acoperiș din țiglă. Pavilion de serviciu are parter și etaj, pentru o suprafață totală de 403,80 m2. Vila administrativă are un singur nivel, de 114,41 m2. Al patrulea corp îl reprezintă capela.

- În pavilionul central se găsește o colecție de heraldică reprezentând blazoanele familiilor înrudite prin alianță cu familia Cantacuzino, precum și portrete ale membrilor familiei din ramura munteană. Castelul a fost amenajat cu vitralii, plafoane cu grinzi pictate, balustrade din lemn, piatră sau fier forjat, șeminee cu piatră albă și ornamente din mozaic.

- În perioada în care clădirea a servit ca sanatoriu, pereții au fost vopsiți uniform. După retrocedare, a început un proces de restaurare a picturilor originale.