Bellu Manor, Urlați
Curtea / Conacul Bellu din Urlați (Muzeul Conacul „Bellu”)
oraș Urlați, Prahova · Str. Orzoaia de Sus 12
park approx. 5 ha (monumental park), as stated on Romanian Wikipedia; not the whole parcel
Guided visit of the guest house (8 lei in a 2014 article)
Summary
A 19th-century boyar court in Urlați, Prahova, donated by the Bellu family to the Romanian Academy in 1926. The big manor house of about 24 rooms is gone (earthquake damage, then demolition; only foundations remain), but the restored guest house survives and operates as a small art and memory museum for the Bellu family set in a roughly 5 ha park.
Legal status
Donated by the Bellu heirs to the Romanian Academy in 1926; in county museum management from 1990; Academy reportedly recovered it after the 2004-2009 restoration (Dec 2014 press) ↗
History
The court was the residence of Baron Alexandru Bellu (1850-1921), a collector and photographer; the main manor had 24 rooms. In 1926 (some sources say about 1927) his last descendants donated the buildings, park and vineyards to the Romanian Academy; the last heir lived there until 1953, when it entered the museum heritage and opened as a regional museum in 1954. The main manor was destroyed in an earthquake (sources give 1977 or 1984) and later demolished; the outbuildings are in ruins. From 1990 the house was held by the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology, and the county council paid for the restoration of the surviving house from 2004, announced as complete in 2009 (a 2007 report said about 17 billion old lei had been spent by then). A December 2014 article says the Academy asked for the property back and won it after the restoration, while the county museum still runs the visits. Visitors can see the guest house by guided tour.
Transactions & prices
| Date | Type | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | Donation | — | Not a sale: donation of the court, park and vineyards by the last Bellu descendants to the Romanian Academy. ↗ |
Listed components
- Conacul Bellu, azi Muzeul de Etnografie — mijl. sec. XIX (PH-II-m-A-16805.01)
- Fundații conac mare — mijl. sec. XIX (PH-II-m-A-16805.02)
- Pavilionul porții — mijl. sec. XIX (PH-II-m-A-16805.03)
- Ruine anexe (Bucătăria) — mijl. sec. XIX (PH-II-m-A-16805.04)
- Parc — mijl. sec. XIX (PH-II-m-A-16805.05)
Sources & links
Found a mistake, or know more about this building? Write to us at contact@conace.eu.
