Snagov Palace (Romanian: ''Palatul Snagov'') is a former royal palace on the shore of Lake Snagov, about 40 km north-east of Bucharest, in Ilfov County,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The palace is situated in the commune of

Snagov Snagov (population: 7,272) is a commune, located north of Bucharest, in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. According to the 2011 census, 92% of the population is ethnic Romanian. The commune is composed of five villages: Ciofliceni, Ghermănești ...

and near the

Snagov monastery Snagov (population: 7,272) is a commune, located north of Bucharest, in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. According to the 2011 census, 92% of the population is ethnic Romanian. The commune is composed of five villages: Ciofliceni, Ghermăneșt ...

. Snagov Palace was built in the early 1930s by

Henrieta Delavrancea Henrieta Delavrancea (1897–1987) was a Romanian architect and one of the first female architects admitted to the Superior School of Architecture in Bucharest, but because of the suspension of her classes during World War I, she was not the first ...

-Gibory for

prince Nicholas of Romania Prince Nicholas of Romania ( ro, Principele Nicolae al României; 5 August 1903 – 9 June 1978), later known as Prince Nicholas of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the fourth child and second son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Ro ...

, brother of king Carol II. It was built on the grounds of the royal hunting lodge Scroviște, which dated from the 19th century. The new palace was constructed in the Romanian Brâncovenesc style and completed in 1932. The palace has a formal garden with fountains, which was landscaped by the Austrian landscape architect Rebhun. In the garden there is a former guesthouse in Romanian

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

-style, built in the beginning of the 20th century. Prince Nicholas hardly used the palace due to a conflict with the king about his morganatic marriage and his expulsion from Romania in 1937. After his departure the palace was meant to be used by politicians, artists and writers, but was hardly used. After 1940 it was occasionally used by the Romanian dictator

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

as a summer residence. During the communist era (1945–1989), Snagov Palace was occasionally used as a residence by the

General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ( ...

. His successor Nicolae Ceauşescu rebuilt the palace in the 1980s after plans of professor Nicholas Vladescu, which took seven years, as a residence for himself and his wife Elena and for government meetings and state visits. During the early days of the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

Ceauşescu and his wife and a small group fled on December 22 from the headquarters of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

(CC building) by helicopter to Snagov Palace, where they stayed for a brief moment. From his presidential suite Ceauşescu discussed by phone with several civilian and military authorities the confused situation in the country. Afterwards he departed from the palace by helicopter in the direction of Piteşti, where he and his wife eventually were captured and brought to Târgovişte.

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...

and Bob Wylie, ''Downfall: The Ceauşescus and the Romanian Revolution'', p. 168-169. Futura Publications, 1991 It is suspected that Ceauşescu took some valuables from the palace when he left for the last time. After the revolution the palace was not claimed by the royal family. Nowadays the palace is rented for various events, such as conferences, official banquets and wedding-parties.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord missing, Ilfov County Royal residences in Romania Palaces in Romania Buildings and structures in Ilfov County 1932 establishments in Romania Houses completed in 1932 Neo-Brâncovenesc architecture