Ruins of the Drăghici Cantacuzino Manor
Ruinele conacului Drăghici Cantacuzino
sat Măgureni; comuna Măgureni, Prahova · 967-978
⚠ Approximate position: the building's exact location is not known; the pin only shows the village.
Ruins in a village
Summary
The ruins of a large 17th-century boyar residence in Măgureni, Prahova, built by Drăghici Cantacuzino. It had a cellar, a ground floor and a habitable upper floor, which was unusual for Wallachia at the time. An earthquake in 1839 brought it down, and only ruins remain, now surrounded by village houses.
Legal status
Listed historic monument, class A (LMI PH-II-m-A-16532) ↗
History
Drăghici Cantacuzino, son of the postelnic Constantin Cantacuzino, built the manor in the second half of the 17th century; the Monument List gives 1663-1670, while a local heritage page gives 1667-1671. His wife Păuna and son Pârvu are said to have completed the work, and a court church was added beside it around 1671-1674; it was rebuilt in the 19th century and is still in use. The rooms were grouped around a northern tower with a loggia, on two levels linked by an interior stair. An earthquake in 1839 collapsed the walls and columns and buried the rooms. Excavations in 1910 (1916 per the CIMEC report) uncovered the building and finds such as Murano glass, Sèvres porcelain and oriental ceramics. The ruins were left unprotected afterwards and local people have built houses around them, which makes any reconstruction difficult.
Sources & links
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