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.

Sibiu: sketching the Lutheran cathedral

Valentin Mandache

Sketching the majestic and venerable Gothic cathedral of Sibiu/ Hermannstadt, Saxon Transylvania.

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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.

Otesani church – a presentation of the late Wallachian style

Valentin Mandache

The Otesani church in Valcea county, Oltenia province, has been built in 1740, extended and repainted in the mid-19th c, in what I would term the late Wallachian style. It is one of the best preserved such examples, and a visual delight and exuberance of colours in the peculiar natural environment of the southern Romanian countryside.

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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.

Rural Wallachian style – Maldaresti Church

Valentin Mandache

The architectural style native to the former principality of Wallachia, the Wallachian, which manifested itself throughout the 18th c especially, as a local interpretation of the Ottoman baroque developed on older Byzantine and Western traditions, is expressed in high forms, such as town churches and monasteries, but also in rural, near vernacular versions, which nevertheless are intensely charming, with an intrinsic aesthetics and artistic value. Such an example is the Maldaresti village church, signalled in this video, from the Oltenia province of southwestern Romania, built in 1774 – 1790, which is still in a remarkable state of conservation, although in great need of care.

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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.

Wallachian style veranda (late 17th c)

Valentin Mandache

This example of a living quarters for princely family veranda is at the Monastery from One Piece of Wood in the Oltenia province of southwestern Romania, and it exhibits the Wallachian style’s exuberance of colours and Ottoman baroque architectural elements, such as the keel arch and the inverse slant roof eaves.

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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.

The Ottoman Baroque in Wallachia and Bulgaria

Valentin Mandache

In this video I chart the influence of the Ottoman baroque from its centre of radiation, Istanbul, to the European northern parts of the empire: in Wallachia and Bulgaria, a process which started in the late 17th c and unfurled until the mid 19th c. There are marked differences in how this influence took roots and materialised in the region, most paradoxically being the fact that it started on the frontier, in Wallachia, a relatively long distance from Istanbul, and a century later in Bulgaria, which was practically next door to the great Ottoman capital. That influence materialised into the emergence of the Wallachian and the Bulgarian Renaissance styles in art and architecture, which imprint the identity of these regions/ countries. The way I look at those phenomena is in the wider regional and historical context, and not in the local Romanian and Bulgarian ones as is most often the case with such analyses.

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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.

Old postcard acquisitions – Feb. 2022

Valentin Mandache

This video is a review of the architectural history subjects seen on the old postcards, which I purchased in February 2022 from an antique bookshop in Bucharest. Two of them also contain text sent by the senders to their families, from abroad back home in Romania (one of them will become a famous geology professor), and together give us a better feeling of those times about a century or so ago when the cards were used. The other three cards were published with the occasion of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, in 1925, when the Art Deco style was launched, constituting important witnesses of a history making moment in architecture.

The Battle of Posada (1330) – considerations on its location

Valentin Mandache

I went to the Dambovicioara Gorges in the Bran Pass of the Transylvanian Alps, to have a feel of what I consider to be the real location of the Posada Battle of 1330, when Wallachia has gained its independence from the medieval Hungarian Kingdom. The event is considered the first manifestation of the Romanian national community, and therefore important for the identity of this major region of Southeastern Europe. There are a multitude of locations considered for this battle, but this one, following my years long research, is, I believe, the most appropriate one.

Plantelor area of Bucharest tour – video teaser

Valentin Mandache

Here are a series of photos charting the route of my architectural history tour in Plantelor area of Bucharest, showing eloquent buildings, cityscapes, and me, the tour guide, in all a singular cultural experience for those who participate. This is one of the multitude of tours and courses that I offer in person or online, enabling you to find out in an eloquent and structured manner about Bucharest, its architectural identity and history, within its highly peculiar southeastern European context, at the articulation point between the East and the West.

Kerz, the easternmost Cistercian abbey (Saxon Transylvania) – a short exposé

Valentin Mandache

Located right on the East European or Orthodox frontier, the Cistercian abbey of Kerz, has been since its inception in 1202 an epitome of Western civilisation, through its Gothic architecture and Catholic culture. It was the easternmost monastery of the order, and has profoundly imprinted the character of Transylvania, making the wider region of the contemporary state of Romania, encompassing it, an articulation point between the civilisations of the Eastern and Western Christianity.

Sketching Gothic details – Schwarze Kirche

Valentin Mandache

Profiting of a tourist-empty Brasov/ Kronstadt in Saxon Transylvania during the pandemic, to sketch some Gothic architectural details of the remarkable 14th c built Black Church, the easternmost Gothic cathedral of continental Europe.