''Grădina Icoanei'' ("

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

's Garden") is a small park in central

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 ...

, situated not far away from Piața Romană and Bulevardul Magheru. The park, located next to Gheorghe Cantacuzino Plaza in Sector 2 of the city, was inaugurated in 1873. The park has a surface area of and attracts an average of 1,100 visitors on a weekend day. The Bulandra Theatre (the Toma Caragiu stage, ''Sala Toma Caragiu''), (now called " Ion Voicu"), the Icoanei Church, and the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

are located in the park's immediate vicinity. The name of the park comes from an icon of Mary, made by Filip Nicolau Argintarul in 1682; the icon, given by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Constantin Brâncoveanu to his wife, Doamna Marica, is today in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of Icoanei Church. The park is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

History

In a city plan from 1852, the area occupied now by the park was designated as ''Maidanul Stăpânirii'', signifying a city-owned town square. In the area was the Icoana Pond, from which the Bucureștioara brook sprang, and a wooded grove, which formed the nucleus of the present-day park. The pond, which covered some , was drained between 1832 and 1846, during the urban development efforts prompted by General Pavel Kiseleff and the Organic Regulations. The construction of the park was done in 1870–1873, based on plans drawn by the architect Karl Kuchnovsky and approved by , while the landscaping was done by the

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Louis Leyvraz in 1873. At that time, the garden was at the outskirts of the city; it was a place where parties were held, lovers met, and fiddlers sang among the bushes. At the northern entrance of the park, a statue of , made by French sculptor Ernest Henri Dubois, was inaugurated in 1904. A female character is at the base of the statue, holding a tablet with her left hand; the feather she was holding in her right hand has since disappeared. At the southern edge of Grădina Icoanei is the bronze bust of Adrian Păunescu, a poet who lived near the park; the bust, made by the sculptors Ioan Deac-Bistrița and Dragoș Neagoe, was inaugurated in 2012. From November 2021 to February 2022, the park was completely renovated, under a 2.7 million leis contract; the two fountains were changed and the main lanes, originally covered with sand, were paved with a layer of crushed limestone, on top of which a layer of gravel was laid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gradina Icoanei Icoanei, Gradina 1873 establishments in Romania Historic monuments in Bucharest