Crăsnaru Tower-House (Cula Crăsnaru)

Summary

A three-storey masonry tower-house (cula) of about 12.5 m in the village of Groșerea, Gorj, with a south-facing wooden gallery and an original shingle-type roof, one of the few Oltenian culae still standing. Privately owned and abandoned for decades, it was emergency-stabilised in 2023 by volunteers of the Monumentum association's 'Ambulanța pentru Monumente' programme.

Legal status

Nationalised after 1951 (used by the people's council, ethnographic museum from 1966); now private property ↗

History

Dendrochronology (Anno Domini Dendrolab, 2017 and 2023) dates the latest timbers to winter 1814/1815, so the building cannot predate that and was most likely raised shortly afterwards; older literature put it in the 18th century or at 1808. Tradition credits treasurer Barbu Cocoș, while architect Iancu Atanasescu argued it was built by Costache Săvoiu (Surcel) and passed as a dowry to the Crăsnaru family; a 2023 dendro study finds the founder's identity still uncertain. Before nationalisation it belonged to the Crăsnaru family (last owner Geo/Gheorghe Crăsnaru) and it has been on the monuments list under that name since 1955. After nationalisation, restoration works began in 1963 and from 1966 it housed an ethnographic museum. It was later abandoned and degraded quickly. The current building is privately owned. In 2023 the Monumentum association, with about 100 volunteers and private, NGO and local funding, rebuilt the roof structure and secured the cula.

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