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, tradition ...

''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 Phil ...

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

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

. 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, ...

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 aesthet ...

with large windows and

loggias In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

. 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 an ...

were decorated with

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' 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 ...

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 t ...

. 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 (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized ...

History

Construction in Bessarabian times

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

origin Manuc Bey left

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

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

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

and after 1815 to Chișinău in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

of the then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, 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 in an act of revenge. He is buried in the

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

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 would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...

watchtowers A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

and a large castle park. In 1881 the famous architect Alexander Bernardazzi designed and built the hunting lodge (also Castelul Vânătoresc).

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

is said to have visited the place in 1823 during his exile.

Soviet era

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the mansion was administered by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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 school system of East Germany. The POS was established in 1959 ...

. 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 (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

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 regist ...

. 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 and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. 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 ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...

, some things about

Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский, ro, Grigore Kotovski; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career ...

, but also traditional costumes from the

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

. 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) *Antiques restoration *Automotive restoration See also *Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property *Reconstruction (architecture) * Remanufacturing *Renovation Ren ...

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, 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 ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

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 palace 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 designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as terracotta or slate. Modern materials such as concrete, metal and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof ...

originally came from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

'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