Văcărești, Bucharest
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Văcărești () is a neighbourhood in south-eastern
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 ...
, located near Dâmbovița River and the Văcărești Lake. Nearby neighbourhoods include Vitan, Olteniței, and Berceni. Originally a village, it was incorporated into Bucharest as it expanded. Its name is related to the
Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
n aristocratic Văcărescu family, with an etymology leading back to the Romanian , "cow-herder," and the suffix ''
-ești The suffix ''-ești'' (pronounced , sometimes changed to ''-ăști'' ) is widespread in Romanian language, Romanian placenames. It is the plural of the possessive suffix ''-escu'', formerly used for patronyms and currently widespread in family nam ...
''.


The Monastery and quarter

The Văcărești Monastery, built by Nicholas Mavrocordatos in 1716, was located on the Văcărești hill, nowadays near Piața Sudului. It was demolished in 1984 during the regime of
Nicolae CeauÈ™escu Nicolae CeauÈ™escu ( ; ;  â€“ 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
to make room for a Palace of Justice that was never built. It was the largest 18th-century monastery in Southeastern Europe and it had a church in the style of
Curtea de ArgeÈ™ Cathedral The Cathedral of Curtea de ArgeÈ™ (early 16th century) is a Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox cathedral in Curtea de ArgeÈ™, Romania. It is located on the grounds of the Curtea de ArgeÈ™ Monastery, and is dedicated to Dormition of the M ...
. It was also designed to be used as a fortress, and was seized in May 1771 by the
Imperial Russian army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
, under commander Nikolai Vasilyeich Repnin, in the context of the Russo-Turkish War and Pârvu Cantacuzino's rebellion. Part of the buildings of the monastery were used as a prison. Inmates that were incarcerated at
Văcărești Prison Văcărești Prison was a prison located in Bucharest, Romania. The prison, situated in the southern part of the city, was established in 1865 within the former , where defendants found guilty of press offenses had been held since 1861. It was a ...
during the 20th century include Ioan Slavici, Tudor Arghezi, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and other members of the
Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
, Liviu Rebreanu, and
Richard Wurmbrand Richard Wurmbrand, also known as Nicolai Ionescu (24 March 1909 – 17 February 2001) was a Romanian Evangelical Lutheran Priest#Lutheranism, priest, and professor of Jewish descent. In 1948, having become a Christian ten years before, he public ...
. The nearby hill was home to Arghezi's long-time residence, the house he nicknamed ''
Mărțișor Mărțișor () is a tradition celebrated at the beginning of Spring in March, involving an object made from two intertwined red and white strings with hanging tassel. It is practiced in Romania and Moldova, and very similar to Martenitsa tradit ...
'' (nowadays a museum).


Jewish history

In the 19th century, many
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
immigrants settled in Văcărești, most of them coming from
Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...
. Văcărești and Dudești were the areas where the poorest Jews settled. On 21 January 1941, the
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
Iron Guard started its coup against
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and MareÈ™al (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''ConducÄ ...
, with whom they had shared government power since September (''see Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom''). The Iron Guard ''legionnaires'' killed 125 Jews, including in Văcărești and Dudești. On 24 January 1941
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and MareÈ™al (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''ConducÄ ...
suppressed the rebellion and the Iron Guard was banned and the members arrested. Almost all the Jews emigrated to the newly created state of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
after
World War II 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 ...
. Văcărești was one of the quarters that was completely torn down by Ceaușescu and nowadays few traces of the old quarters remain.


Văcărești Lake

In the 1980s, Ceaușescu wanted to build a large
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
(3 km2), demolishing a sparsely built area and making place for a lake with a concrete bottom. However, it was never completed and it still remains barren as of 2022. In 2002, 1.83 km2 of the terrain were given for 49 years to a company owned by Australian citizen Tony Mikhael that wanted to invest €650 million and build some residential areas as well as a
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
, a
hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...
, a hotel and some clubs. The terrain itself is estimated to be worth about €500 million, as the land costs in the area around €300/m2. ' argued that the concession of the terrain was illegal and that the Romanian state only gets around €0.28/m2.


Further reading

*Gheorghe Leahu. ''Demolarea Mânăstirii VăcăreÈ™ti'' ("Demolition of the VăcăreÈ™ti Monastery"), (1997) BucureÈ™ti, Arta Grafică *Anania, Lidia; Luminea, Cecilia; Melinte, Livia; Prosan, Ana-Nina; Stoica, Lucia; and Ionescu-Ghinea, Neculai, ''Bisericile osândite de CeauÈ™escu. BucureÈ™ti 1977–1989'' (1995). Editura Anastasia, Bucharest, . In Romanian. Title means "Churches doomed by CeauÈ™escu". p. 171–186 is about the VăcăreÈ™ti Monastery, including extensive photographs and architectural drawings.


References


"Proiectul Văcăreşti, dezgropat în 2005"
''
Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name translates to "The event of the day" or "Today's event". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nisto ...
, 13 January 2005 *"Obuz pesedist în tunul alianÈ›ei - Afacerea VăcăreÈ™ti", ''Săptămâna Financiară'', no. 48, 13 February 2006 p. 1, 5 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vacaresti, Bucharest Districts of Bucharest Jews and Judaism in Bucharest Jewish Romanian history