The mansion of Manuc Bey (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

''Conacul lui Manuc Bei'' or ''Manuc Bey'', more rarely ''Conacul Mirzoian'', officially: ''historical-architectural complex Manuc Bey'', from Romanian ''Complexul istorico-arhitectural Manuc Bey'') is a

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

and is located in the city of Hânceşti in the central western part of Moldova. It was the residence of

Manuc Bei Knyaz Manuc Bey (the common Romanian rendering of ''Manuk Bey'', the Armenian name of Emanuel Mârzayan; 1769–1817) was an Armenian merchant, diplomat, boyar and inn-keeper. Life He was born in Rousse (modern-day Ruse, Bulgaria), at tha ...

. It consists of a larger building complex: Manucs Palace (Palatul Princiar), the Steward's House, the hunting lodge of Countess Çadır, a watch tower and other buildings.

Location and structure

The palace is located in the southern part of the city on the northern slope of a hill on the edge of the park. An

avenue Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, Lon ...

leads from the entrance to the castle. Because of the slope of the site, you can only see two floors from above. The castle is designed in the spirit of French

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

with large windows and

loggias In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only partial, with the ...

. The inner walls to the

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

were decorated with

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

and equipped with niches for

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size. A sculpture ...

. The niches were embellished with frescoes. The palace property was enclosed with a wall that was demolished in the late 1950s. All parts of the property are said to have been connected to the palace by glass galleries. The ceilings were painted by the Armenian Hovhannes Aiwasjan, who was visiting his brother in Chișinău at the time. The paintings have not survived. Aivazyan later became famous as a marine painter under the name

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (; ) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized as Hovhannes Aivazian, he was born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crime ...

History

Construction in
Bessarabian Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
times

After the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, the

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and trader of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

origin Manuc Bey left

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and entrusted his confidants with the continuation of his business. He first moved to

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

and after 1815 to

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered t ...

of the then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, where he acquired the Hancești estate for 300,000 golden lei. Manuc Bey died on June 20, 1817, after falling from a horse. According to another source, he was poisoned by

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

in an act of revenge. He is buried in the

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

of the Armenian Church in Chișinău. The construction of the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

was started for his son Murat (Ivan), continued by him and finally completed by his nephew Grigore (Gregory) from 1858 to 1861. The successors built a French style castle with a

winter garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility constructed large conservatories that housed tropical and subtropical pla ...

watchtowers A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

and a large castle park. In 1881 the famous architect

Alexander Bernardazzi Aleksander Osipovich Bernardazzi (, alternative spelling: Alexandr Bernardacci, ; July 2, 1831 – August 14, 1907) was a Russian architect best known for his work in Odessa and Chişinău. His life Bernardazzi was born in Pyatigorsk in 1831 ...

designed and built the hunting lodge (also Castelul Vânătoresc).

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

is said to have visited the place in 1823 during his

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

Soviet era

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the mansion was administered by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities. At first the estate housed a mechanization school, then a

polytechnic secondary school The polytechnic secondary school, officially ''ten-class general educational polytechnic secondary school'', abbreviation POS, pronounced P-O-S, was the standard type of school in the Education in East Germany, school system of East Germany. The ...

. The wall that enclosed the entire estate was demolished in the late 1950s. The architectural complex was still in a satisfactory condition until the mid-1980s. The 1986 Vrancea earthquake damaged the palace so deeply that the majority of the buildings were in danger of collapsing or in ruins. A new building was erected for the school and the castle began to deteriorate rapidly. The hunting lodge was largely preserved, as a regional

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

museum had been opened there since 1979.

Cultural monument of the Republic of Moldova

In 1993 the mansion got the status of a Moldovan

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...

. In 2011 the estate was enclosed with a concrete wall, but it was still easy to penetrate the site. The palace was badly damaged, especially the facade. The same was true for the Steward's House and the Ioniță Iamandis house. At that time the architectural monument was just a landscape of

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

Redevelopment

In the early 1970s, the restoration of the hunting lodge began, which later became a

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. It has over 20,000 exhibits in several rooms, each dedicated to different topics. On the ground floor there are objects from the age of the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

, some things about

Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (, ; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military officer and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career from being a gangster and bank robber to eventually becoming a Red Army command ...

, but also traditional costumes from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. In 2012 the further deterioration was stopped with roofing work. In October 2013, funding for the restoration and

refurbishment Refurbishment may refer to: *Refurbishment (electronics), restoration and testing of pre-owned electronic devices *Sustainable refurbishment, modification of existing buildings to improve environmental performance *Antiques restoration *Automotive ...

of the entire historical complex was secured. The project was implemented in 2014 and 2015 and included a total of nine buildings in the renovation: the two-story palace, the countess's building, the hunting lodge, the steward's house, the watchtower, the Armenian church, the

artesian well An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of Permeability (ea ...

, the stables and the underground galleries. The restoration have been carried out based on the original drawings and sketches found in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

provided just under 2.2 million euros for the renovation, with a further 10% being self-financed by the Hînceşti District Council. The ''Agency for Regional Development of the Center of the Republic of Moldova'' is to provide 23.5 million lei for the renovation of two other buildings in the Manuc Bey complex: ''Casa Ioniță Iamandi'' and ''Casa Vechilului''. The interior, which has been partially restored, is based on the more baroque interior of the old furnishings of Manuc Bey's family. Only about 3 hectares have been preserved from the old castle park, which formerly covered almost 10 hectares. The main entrance to the palace had been an earlier entrance in the enclosure from the east.

Gallery

AIRM - Mansion of Manuc Bei - jul 1945 - 02.jpg, The palace in 1945 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - dec 2013 - 08.jpg, The

before renovation in 2013 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - jul 2013 - 01.jpg, The hunting lodge in 2013 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - jul 2013 - 18.jpg, Ioniță Iamandi's House in 2013 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - jul 2013 - 25.jpg, The

roof tiles Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

originally came from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

AIRM - Mansion of Manuc Bei - apr 2012 - 03.jpg,

Watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

's ruins in 2012 Manuc Bey.jpg, The renovated facade in 2020 AIRM - Doors Open Day @ mansion of Manuc Bei - dec 2015 - 16.jpg, Reopening and Open Day December 2015 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - sep 2014 - 01.jpg, The restorated hunting lodge in 2014 AIRM - Restoration of mansion of Manuc Bei - nov 2015 - 15.jpg, The Steward's House in November 2015 AIRM - Interior of mansion of Manuc Bei - oct 2016 - 04.jpg, Restored interior in October 2016 AIRM - Interior of mansion of Manuc Bei - oct 2016 - 08.jpg, Parts of the new interior

References

Bibliography

* Frieder Monzer, Timo Ulrichs: ''Anwesen des Manuc Bey.'' In: ''Moldova: Mit Chișinău, ganz Bessarabien und Transdnestrien'' (3. Auflage), Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-89794-455-8. p. 171

External links

*
Manuc Bey Palace
Information page of the Republic of Moldova on the palace
In a Moldovan City, the Palace of an Ottoman ‘Prince’ and Russian Knight
on ''balkaninsight.com'' {{coord, 46.82566, 28.58214, format=dms, type:landmark_region:MD, display=title Museums in Moldova 1860s architecture Palaces in Moldova Buildings and structures in Moldova