Category: Video

I would like to present you here a series of videos on a diversity of architectural and related themes, which I produced over the years, giving you a better grasp of the architectural history phenomenon in this corner of Europe, helping you to making a better decision whether to visit, invest or learn more about the history and architecture of Romania and South East Europe.

Architectural history fieldwork tool: Binoculars Pentax Papilio 6.5×21

Valentin Mandache

This is a brief presentation of the Pentax Papilio II 6.5×21 binoculars, which are an important tool in my fieldwork as an architectural historian. Being able to distinguish ornamental or structural details from a distance, on roofs, high on the wall of a tall building, or the ceiling of a reception hall or other architectural nook and crannies is essential in the work of a field architectural historian. A good pair of binoculars are invaluable in that regard. In choosing them I have to strike a balance between price, performance, lightness, and usefulness. Pentax Papilio II 6.5×21 seems to be the best choice available now on the market.

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

Acanthus leaves – Italica

Valentin Mandache

The Acanthus leaf is among the most frequent architectural motifs encountered in Roman architecture, with its origins in the Greek classical one (ie the capital of the Corinthian style columns), used in Romanesque, Byzantine, and even Gothic, resurrected on a large scale by the Renaissance, then a staple of Baroque and Rococo, and essential in Neo-Classicism. Here is how the leaf looks in its natural state, as a plant, in a patch of Acanthus next to the amphitheatre of Italica, the Roman colony founded by Scipio Africanus, not far from contemporary Seville.

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

Italica, Seville – the birthplace of Emperor Trajan

Valentin Mandache

Italica is the oldest Roman colony outside Italy, founded by Scipio Africanus in 206 BCE, with legionaries who fought in the Second Punic War campaign in the region. It is the birthplace of emperors Trajan and Hadrian. This video is an evocation of Trajan’s actions and importance in the conquest of Dacia and how laden with symbolism is the place where he was born for events that have happened at the other end of Europe, and their historic consequences.

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

The early Wallachian style of Balteni church (1626)

Valentin Mandache

This is a brief examination of the emergence of the Wallachian architectural style in the example of Balteni church, 20km north of Bucharest. The nave dates from the early 17th c, and is of a transitional architecture between the old Bulgarian style (the north Balkans Byzantine style) and the indigenous Wallachian one, which emerges properly in the mid-17th c. Here we can also see what I consider elements of Moldavian style (a Byzantine architecture imbued by the Gothic) influence. All of these give tantalising clues about the roots of the architecture native to the principality of Wallachia, the Wallachian style, aka Brancovenesc.

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

Sketching Palermo Cathedral

Valentin Mandache

This was a small break during my October 2022 Sicily Study Trip, where I focused on the Arabo-Norman style architecture. The exterior of the Palermo Cathedral is one of the most extensive such relics in existence, and dates from the time of the Norman King William the Good and English archbishop Walter, inaugurated in 1185. The altar apse and its eastern end, which were the object of my sketch preserve the highest concentration of Arabo-Norman style designs and symbolism. There can also be glimpsed Byzantine and Romanesque elements.

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contactpage of this weblog.

Art Deco Garage Doors Symbolism

Valentin Mandache

In this video I describe the symbolism of a set of 1930s Art Deco garage doors, which I found during my research in Plantelor Area of Bucharest. They represent in an abstract, cubist-like, manner the working day – daylight cycle of a modern town of the inter-war period, such as Bucharest used to be.

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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world’s architectural history and heritage.

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If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.

Old postcard purchase – August 2022

Valentin Mandache

Discussion of the history, architecture and geography subjects illustrated on the old postcards, which I purchased in August 2022, ranging in date from the late 1920s to the late 1970s Romania (most of them real photographs).

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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and its wider region in the south east Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of architectural history and heritage.

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If you would like to find out about the architectural style and history of a period house in Romania, which you intend to acquire, sell, renovate in its historic spirit or restore, I would be delighted to offer you professional consultancy in that direction. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.

Sketching the Byzantine church Panagia Chalkeon

Valentin Mandache

Panagia Chalkeon in Thessaloniki is a high Byzantine style architecture church built in 1028 AD, during the times of the Macedonian dynasty’s renaissance in arts and architecture, a period of recovery and magnificence of the Eastern Roman Empire, aka the Byzantine Empire, after a few centuries of “dark ages” when it had to face the pressure of the new religion of Islam and the internal convulsions reflected in Iconoclasm. Doing architectural sketching, is a means for me to internalise even more the character, features and symbolism of such an example of old architecture and artistry, which influenced the entire region of the Southeast Europe.

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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world’s architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.

Sketching Duca Cula

Valentin Mandache

In Maldaresti, province of Oltenia (SW Romania), architecturally sketching Duca Cula (1820s built). May 2022

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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world’s architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.

Plovdiv: sketching Kuyumdzhioglu House (the Ethnographic Museum)

Valentin Mandache

Sketching, during my August 2021 study trip, the spectacular Bulgarian Renaissance style Kuyumdzhioglu House, built in 1847, hosting now the Ethnographic Museum of Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria.

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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world’s architectural history and heritage.

***********************************************

If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.